Charming memories

Posted in Family traditions
by besttech

Celeste Smith

McClatchy Newspapers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sara Collins’ charm bracelet came from her mom, who started it for her at birth with a single baby boot.

Later came the safety patrol badge from sixth grade, ballet shoes, a palm tree from a trip to Florida, a silver apple from New York City. But mom wouldn’t let Collins have the bracelet until she turned 18.

“That was my whole motivation for becoming an adult — not to vote or be on my own at college, but to get that charm bracelet,” wrote Collins, 39, of Charlotte. “Charm bracelets are the wearable books of someone’s life, truly an example of wearing your heart on your sleeve.”

Her sentiments are shared by nearly 100 readers responding to a newspaper query for stories about your charm bracelets — those wrist adornments filled with decorative gems and trinkets symbolic of your lives.

Among the writers: the mother of an 11-year-old just starting her bracelet from her paternal grandmother and an 82-year-old former secretary, Vera Wilmer of Charlotte, who has typewriter and shorthand pad charms both inscribed with her word speed: 60 and 120 words per minute.

And then there are the moms expecting more special additions to their bracelets come Mother’s Day. Some add charms as travel souvenirs, reflections of hobbies and to mark special times, like the birth of children.

For others, the bracelets serve as reminders of special relatives. Cindy Webb and daughter Elizabeth, 11, have charm bracelets passed onto them from grandmothers.

“I plan on keeping the tradition and giving it to my granddaughter someday,” writes Webb, 42, of Statesville, N.C.

Theodoshia Williams of Charlotte prefers to wear her bracelet every day instead of tucking it away as a keepsake. The charms serve as icebreakers with people she encounters as a social worker.

“I’ll point out what each one means to me,” said Williams, 60. There’s the pennant charm representing the former Emmett Scott High School in Rock Hill; the butterfly charm as part of her collection of the symbol; the “mom” one from her children.

AN AFFORDABLE INDULGENCE

It’s the way that charms can say anything that makes them appealing, said Meg Rallings, owner of M. Rallings Jewelry & Gifts in Charlotte. The store’s silver charm offerings grew from 30 charms a decade ago to about 1,000 today, selling at three for $21. Choices include a crown, which some buy for Charlotte’s Queen City moniker; religious-themed ones, like saints and the Star of David; cookbooks for food lovers. She even had a toilet charm once — and it sold, although she can’t remember why.

With silver starter bracelets going for about $55, and charms often going for about $10 apiece, some say it’s an indulgence that doesn’t break the bank. That’s what Terri DeBoo, 49, of Charlotte had in mind when she bought her silver charm bracelet years ago.

Her young son Blaine’s penchant for buying her cheaper jewelry left both of them disappointed: The gifts would break after a couple of uses. So instead, DeBoo asked Blaine, then 6, to help her fill her charm bracelet. Now he’s 17, and DeBoo’s bracelet has 70 charms — mostly from her son.

“He’s gotten Christmas presents, Mother’s Day; he remembers what’s on there to know what not to duplicate,” said DeBoo.

While traditional bracelets have dangling charms, newer versions stay closer to the wrist. Charm bracelets by Pandora use beads in different shapes, from pocketbooks to flower bouquets.

Jody Brewer’s Italian charm bracelet also doesn’t dangle. Its charms are flat links with different designs that snap together, forming the bracelet.

Her oldest daughter gave it to her as a special way to celebrate Brewer’s granddaughters. “She thought it was different and unique,” said Brewer, 60, of Indian Trail, N.C.

BLESSINGS ON THE WRIST

Ana Maria Martinez’s silver charm bracelet toasts her cultural loves: Mexico, where her husband is from, and Puerto Rico, her parents’ birthplace. Her charms include a sombrero, a church in Guadalajara, and a Coqui, a frog known in Puerto Rico for its loud chirping.

Chris Horn Williams’ bracelet reflects one of her most cherished blessings: her friendships. When her bridge club buddies hosted a surprise 50th birthday lunch in 2001, all the guests came bearing little square packages. They were charms representing their friendship with her.

Her sister gave her a pocketbook charm, for the expensive purse Williams coveted as a teenager. Her Florida friend gave her a flamingo. Childhood friend Libby gave Williams two charms, a girl and a shovel — for the time they buried a doll in the woods.

“So many special people made me feel extra special,” Williams said. “We all love to be loved. And that was the epitome of being loved.” After years of struggling to have children, Jody Brewer’s two daughters both adopted baby girls. Her oldest daughter started Brewer’s Italian charm bracelet and both daughters add charms representing the girls. “The bracelet is a double reminder to me of the struggles my daughters and their husbands endured to become parents, and the joys (my granddaughters)…those struggles produced,” said Brewer, 60, of Indian Trail. Cindy Webb, 42, and daughter Elizabeth, 11, of Statesville, both have charm bracelets from their grandmothers. Cindy got hers as a 30th birthday gift. Elizabeth’s bracelet, received last Christmas, had been her father’s Christmas present to his mother in 1968. Theodoshia Williams, 60, of Charlotte, received her charm bracelet in 1966, when she was a debutante in high school. It took years to find the butterfly charm (above), a big symbol in her family. “We are a family that believes in Christianity, and that’s a symbol of being reborn again,” she said. Terri DeBoo’s young son liked to buy her jewelry, but his allowance would only go so far. So DeBoo, now 49, bought a silver charm bracelet, and asked son Blaine, then around 6, to help fill it. Now
Blaine’s a teenager, and DeBoo’s bracelet has 70 charms. While living in Los Angeles, Ana Maria Martinez took a vacation to
Mexico City — and met future husband Francisco. “We wrote to each other for two years until we decided to get married,” said
Martinez, who turns 70 in July. The silver charm bracelet she started 44 years ago reminds her of that time.

———

(c) 2008, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).

Visit The Charlotte Observer on the World Wide Web at http://www.charlotte.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.