My collection of vintage jewelry has shifted from broaches to screw-back earrings. They are virtually guaranteed to be vintage, and they definitely fit with my sense of style.
When my grandma passed away, I was so pleased to be able to select some of her pieces of jewelry, including a pair of screw-back earrings. They are unusual, and I receive lots of compliments on them. It does freak people out when I reach up and pull it off my ear to show it to them. I remember seeing that in many a black and white movie (the pulling off of earrings, not freaking people out), and I always thought it was a cool movement.
I recently went on an eBay shopping spree. The last pair I purchased I chose because they made me smile.
It didn’t hurt that shipping was free!
I was so happy on the day I debuted them … until one was missing. I had changed clothes for an appointment and put the earrings into a pocket for safe keeping, but I forgot to button that pocket to secure them. Later I realized it wasn’t there: It was somewhere between the office and my car.
When I got to work the next morning, I scoured the parking lot … twice. It wasn’t there.
I pride myself on not being attached to stuff, but I really missed that earring. I stopped and thought about it and realized that the emotion, which was out of proportion to its cost and intrinsic value, was because it was my first time wearing them and that it was my own foolish mistake that took it away from me.
Later that day I was collecting the mail and a flash of metal caught my eye: my earring!
Much like with my lost cell phone, I was elated to get back my missing item, and yet I was wondering if I need to start permanently attaching things to myself, like they do with kids and mittens. I’ve lost two things in three months. Maybe I’ll learn that pockets aren’t the most reliable storage devices. Wait a minute! My clothes have a formed a conspiracy against me!
What was the last thing you lost? or Have you ever thought inanimate objects were out to get you?
Grown Up, Now What? 
All. The. Time. My inanimate possessions mock me, hide from me, taunt me and conspire. I’m sure of it.
I lost my wedding ring not long ago – I took it off at work to put some lotion on my very dry hands and then an interruption came up, the phone rang, a customer needed me, and after about a half hour or so – I realized, with that sinking feeling, that my ring wasn’t on. What a pit in your stomach feeling that is! Retrace my steps. Retrace my steps. Don’t panic.
I’d put it in a desk drawer. Found it. So I feel your elation in finding your earring. And they are, BTW, adorable. They, and the ending to your story, made me smile too!
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It’s not just me! I love that you are my sanity confirmer, Barbara!
How scary to lose your ring! I’m glad that you were able to find it again. I know that tightness that starts in the chest when you first notice that something is wrong. The worst part is that the ensuing panic makes it harder to find what you are looking for! I’m sure it was quite a while before your heart rate settled back down.
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Ha-ha! I may be a sanity confirmer – or it may just be that we’re both a little crazy! And that’s okay too. Right? Right?
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So long as I can bring someone into the craziness with me … It’s great having company!
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I love that I don’t have to worry about losing things like earrings. On the other had, my wife will sometimes lose one and I’ll be recruited to help search for it. I doesn’t happen too often at least. Luckily for her, I’m happy to help conduct the search.
One thing I do lose frequently is my phone. That’s the worst. When you know it’s in the house somewhere, but you can’t find it. I’ll check the usual places, but then nothing. I feel like I need to do a sweep of the area just to locate it. Thankfully though, I don’t lose it for too long. I had a friend once who lost a cell phone and didn’t find it for three weeks. Yikes.
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I think I would go insane if I lost my phone for 3 weeks. I definitely would have bought another by then, since I don’t have a land line. I would have felt completely naked.
How kind of you to help your wife in the search for missing earrings. They are so small, and they like to hide!
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I do this–I try to not be attached to things and then I feel a real annoyance/frustration/grief over soemthing lost, especially if I lost it because I was careless! I don’t often lose things though. My daughter lost a tiny pair of silver seashel earrings. She was really sad as they were a gift from her grandma. But several weeks later I found them in the rubber folds of the washing machine door! How LUCKy as they should have been washed through the drain from there! She was ecstatic. They must have been in a pocket. There’s nothing like the feeling of finding that lost item, is there?! 🙂
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There is definitely something about losing something because of your own carelessness that seems to add insult to injury. How wonderful that you were able to find your daughter’s earrings. Gifts from grandma are so important and carry much more value than the items themselves cost.
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