Opening their hearts, opening their jewelry boxes

Opening their hearts, opening their jewelry boxes

Ever since I can remember I've noticed that when women (who are relatively close family members or family friends) get together, they show each other their jewelery collection and new clothes. When I was younger, I thought this was just a brown thing.

I remember going to people's house and the girls would show me their jewelry, especially their big earrings, which most brown girls like. I have quite the collection of big earrings, so I used to do the same. Those were moments filled with oohhh's and aahhh's.

I've worn this the most so far

Then I started browsing through beauty blogs and noticed various bloggers sharing their jewelry collection. Not many bloggers shared their collection of big earrings in particular, but the posts were filled with some beautiful pieces, some of which were focused toward a particular fad at the time, such as statement necklaces, big rings, etc.

This shows that women all over the world like sharing pieces that they have collected over the years, however, I haven't seen anyone open their jewelry boxes the way the women did when I was on vacation this summer (2010). These women are my aunts.

I spent time with these women even before I was a teen - that's how long I was seeing them after (except for 2 of my aunts who came to visit my family in Canada for a month each). I was nervous before going because I didn't know what kind of expectations people would have from me or if I'd "fit in." Living in Canada, I haven't had the chance to experience close family relationships because of the lack of close family and family friends we have here. The close relatives and family friends that we do have don't live very close, so we don't see them as much as we would like to.

Even though I was seeing these women after years, when they opened their jewelry boxes in front of me, each one made it a point to tell me that I can take anything I want. In no way were they obligated to do so, but they did it out of love. I was very hesitant at accepting gifts this way because I'm not used to it.

Imagine someone liking a piece of jewelry that you own while you are showing them your collection and you notice this so you offer it to them. Would you be able to part with it? Would you think twice before offering it to them, especially if it's something that you've worn and it matches an outfit of yours? I don't mean to put anyone on the spot when asking those questions, but I'm just trying to make the point that for most women, parting with something that they own, especially their jewelry isn't an easy thought. These women did it without any hesitation though.

Receiving jewelry from these women meant so much because they didn't just open their jewelry boxes, but they opened their hearts to me. It was a way for them to express their love and acceptance of me by offering me something of theirs, as if they had not done enough for me already while I was there.

Knowing that these pieces were something that these women probably wore before made it even better. It's like I have a piece of them with me. Every time I look at or wear one of these pieces shown in this post, I am reminded of their kind hearts and that sense of a strong support network of family and friends. Never thought I'd find so much love in cities that I left almost 9 years ago from people who I felt like I hardly knew before I left.

And just like that, with a small act of kindness, they have touched my heart.. forever.