The Jewelry Box

Week 10 Wear Your Mother’s Jewelry Day 1112 Words 8/29/24

The Jewelry Box

Robin watched as her mom got dressed and ready to go out for their anniversary dinner with her stepfather, Joe. He was taking her to the city for dinner and a play. They usually went to Renaldo’s Italian. Tonight they were going to see Richard Burton and Julie Andrews in Camelot. The restaurant was near Rockefeller Plaza on 49th Street. It was the place they went on their first trip to the city after meeting at the call center where she went to work after her father died. They would take a yellow cab to 42nd Street to the theatre. Robin’s mom put on a pure white string of pearls. Joe got it for her on their honeymoon trip to Hawaii.

Robin stayed with her mom’s sister, Aunt Peggy, for eight days she would rather forget. Aunt Peggy was stiff as starch and disliked children immensely. She thought Robin should be seen and not heard. A stickler for cleanliness, she had Robin scrub the tub and mop the bathroom floor each night after her bath. She was sent to bed without supper one of those nights because she left tea bags in the sink after brewing some, making it into iced tea. She did it exactly like her mom had taught her. Her aunt made her so nervous, by watching over her every move, that she forgot about the bags after she had strained them. She ran fast to the cab as it brought her mom to get her. She waited until her things were gathered and politely said goodbye to her aunt. Once outside, she told her mom what a hard week it was. She did ask about the honeymoon. Mom had a glorious time, she said, her skin tanned with her cheeks slightly red.

Robin and her mom had been together for six years alone since her father died of a heart attack.

“Collapsed and was dead when he hit the floor,” Uncle Tom explained on the phone to a mourner.

His head must have hurt, thought Robin. She had been playing dress-up with her mom after school that horrible day. They would take all the jewelry out of the exotic jewelry box adorned with colorful birds and Chinese letters. On top, two red pull tassels, one attached to each of two sides of compartments opened on her pin collection. She loved animals and her mom had a pin for many of them. An elephant, with ivory tusks, and an emerald body and tail, was her favorite. Her mom would pin it on Robin’s blouse and close the clasp telling the story of why having an elephant was good luck.

The elephant symbolizes abundance and is believed to bring good harvests. With its trunk turned upward, it means security, resilience, and positive energy. Robin’s real dad explained the ancient Chinese beliefs. He had taken her and her mom to an elephant sanctuary on Long Island when she was five. She still remembered the texture of the thick skin. It was hard like a shell and rough with wrinkles that felt like touching sandpaper. She did not know how an elephant could walk with that stiff outside coat. Her dad explained how the wrinkles helped them retain more water and they were meticulous about keeping their skin clean by rolling in mud and then spraying themselves with water from their trunk to clean off.

Every piece of her mom’s jewelry brought back memories. The bottom two drawers below the top compartments were perfect for necklaces and bracelets. There were another half dozen matching pairs all with precious or semi-precious stones. Her diamond tennis bracelet with a drop tear diamond on a gold chain was placed in the back of the bottom drawer, wrapped in tissue paper, and worn on big occasions. It was her mom’s wedding gift from her father when they wed seven years before Robin was born.

Her mom’s mother, Grandmother Rose, had beautiful jewelry. Her mom could never touch it to play or even look. Robyn saw it at Aunt Peggy’s once. Rose favored Peggy and left every piece of jewelry to her. Robin’s mom was not that selfish. She prayed to have a daughter. She waited a long time to conceive. Due to complications, Robin was destined to be an only child.

Robin could think of a million times she would love to wear the diamond set. Senior Prom, her girlfriends’ weddings, and most assuredly to the theatre in the city. As if her mother was telepathic, for Hanukah, she received a diamond tennis bracelet. She still had her childhood jewelry box with a ballerina dancing on top to the music of the Nutcracker Suite. She wrapped it in tissue paper and pushed it into the back of its drawer.

Strangely, her mother had no rings other than her wedding set which she never took off. On her right ring finger was a mother’s ring with two gemstones, one representing each of their birthdays. Robin decided when she had a daughter, she would also get a mother’s ring. She would also get a tear-drop diamond necklace. She saw the latest style of jewelry boxes that stood on four legs. The one she wanted had six drawers. The top opened revealing a mirror to use when putting your jewelry on. The sides opened, as well with rounded hooks to hang your necklaces. The top had tucked rolls to place your earrings and rings.

The holidays were coming up soon. She suspected she might just get the box as a gift. She could not fill it but dreamed of the possibilities. She would not receive the coveted jewelry stand for a few more years when she returned from her honeymoon to find it in their new home’s master bedroom.

“I hope it is the correct one. I plan to fill it with tokens of my love for you.” He produced a gift-wrapped box. Inside was a tear-drop diamond necklace. It sparkled as she lifted it out of its gift box. The ceiling fan light fixture reflected dazzling prisms from the large gem.

“I think this is a big occasion.” He took it, putting it on, and clasping it at the nape of her neck. “Next on the agenda is to have the daughter we both dream of having. Are you ready to begin?”

Robin nodded. She saw a little jewelry box with a ballerina on top at the children’s boutique she shopped at recently for a baby shower gift. She would return to buy so it was ready for their little girl. She looked forward to sharing her jewelry.