Almost Lost Again
A favorite pair of earrings that I wore for years went missing one day. Well not entirely. It was only one that I lost on a teaching trip–at an airport, hotel, or possibly a grocery store. Slipping the wires in my ears each day had been a part of my getting dressed routine and I didn’t feel like I had it all together without them. I feel the same way about my apron–I’m not dressed and ready for the day unless I have put on an apron. I still had one earring and placed it in a safe place. Occasionally I would look at it and remember how much I loved wearing them.
On a teaching trip to southern California a few years back, I found a new-to-me pair of earrings in a second hand jewelry store. I wore them daily until about three months ago, when I lost one of those, too. <<sigh>>
I started wearing a mismatched pair–one of each–in my ears. Friends would say to me, “You have on two different earrings. Did you know?” Yes, I did, but both were silver and round…well, one was round and the other was round-ish.
Today on a whim, I drove into town and walked into the store where I had originally purchased the first set. I showed the lovely young woman who greeted me my one remaining earring and asked if there might possibly be another set like it. She said, “Yes, I think there just might be.” Spinning the display case around, we found it; a pair exactly like the one I had shown to her. Then the loveliest thing happened. She disappeared to the back of the store and unbeknownst to me, was conferring with the owner. When she returned, she said that they would be happy to sell me just one. How kind!
The owner came out, took my older tarnished piece, and shined it up with a cloth as we chatted. “How’s your son doing?” One of the beauties of living in a small town is that folks like shopkeepers, teachers, and librarians have watched all the kids grow up and enjoy keeping up on their news. “He’s doing great,” and I shared a few updates. She finished polishing them and told me that the older one is a little more worn than the new one, but it would catch up with its older mate soon. After I paid, I slipped them into my ears–ahhhhh–just right–and headed back to my car.
Once home, I went straight to the mirror to take a look, only to see that one was missing! I couldn’t believe it. How is it possible that I could lose one before I had worn it for 15 minutes? Had it fallen off somewhere in my scarf? A pocket? The car? The path on the way in? I retraced my steps. Nothing. With a feeling of disappointment I came back inside. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to have two. Maybe I was supposed to continue wearing mismatched sets, like the mismatched socks I sometimes put on early in the morning when it’s too dark to tell the difference.
Then I looked down. On the floor right inside the back door, lay my almost lost again earring. I picked it up, happily threaded it through my ear. I pressed the fishhook wires a bit closer together. It will probably be a good idea for me to put some of those little earring safety backs on the wires so they won’t fall off. Now, I have a matched set…at least for a while.
Almost lost but together again.
Is there something you put on each day that makes you feel complete, or a special item that was given up for lost and later found?
I have two silver Navajo bracelets purchased over twenty years ago in New Mexico. I wear them most days, so often that the silver has gone from being perfectly round, to taking on the shape of my wrist. Although I couldn’t say why, they feel a part of me and not just jewelry that I happen to be wearing that day.
Exactly Stevie!
I try and put on a good attitude, I don’t succeed all the time but I can restart my day at any time…. thankfully.
Oh Lorrie, that’s the very best thing to put on each day! When I get up I say, “It’s another wonderful day.” Whether or not I believe it, I say it, and it can kickstart me into having one. Trying to have a good attitude is so important. Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
I know how you feel! I lost one of my favorites never to be found again. I started wearing mismatched earrings years ago just because I like being different. I think being an artist no one questioned it when they saw me with two different earrings. When I wear two different earrings I always match the metal and usually the colors. Sometimes I have one long earring and one short. BTW, a friend gave me a great solution for not losing earrings. You can buy these tiny rubber things with a hole in the middle that you thread onto the back of the wire after you put the wire through you ear. Push the rubber thingy all the way up to the back of your earlobe. No one sees this and you’ll never lose another of your favorites.
I kinda thought wearing two different earrings was rather artistic, too. 😉 I need a bagful of those little rubber thingies. They get lost, too!
I still morn the loss of one earring, there have been several. Having all my jewelry except what I was wearing stolen, I got to start over. Yet.. it still happens. If I can buy the same pair from Erin (in SB), I do it. For me, buying a whole new pair, saves me in case I lose one.
Maybe you want the pair? Maybe not.
I always squeeze the wires and for the last 2 years I’ve worn the same pair and rarely remove them, that’s OK with me, it’s like coming home.
I am so sorry that you experienced that kind of loss, Leslie. It such a violation of our space. I’m now going to be a consistent wire squeezer, too.
Top of this page – this is exactly what you need! https://www.shipwreckbeads.com/search/earring+backs/searchType/and/orderBy/sku/itemsPerPage/20/page/1/item/FI54-PSS
Julie, my wonderful neighbor read the post and just came over with a bag of those little rubber thingies for me! Great minds, yes?
Update: My wonderful neighbor just read this post and came over with a bag of those little rubber thingies for me!
Love this story Kate….what feels like daily comfort to me at home? My flip flops …year round even in winter😊
Oh so true Connie. I love my flip flops and wear them with socks. You can’t take the beach girl out of me. 😉
Kate, was the store in Anacortes? Those are lovely earrings, I wouldn’t mind having a pair. Plus I’d like to support a store that is that kind to their clientele.
I love supporting local. I live in Port Angeles, WA…a few hours and a ferry ride away from Anacortes. The store is Olympic Stained Glass, and owned an operated by Marilyn Kaler. I bet if you call, they can send you photos, and ship to you. 🙂
I may have the world’s largest collection of single earrings (more on that in a minute), but there’s one lost earring that I miss the most. It is (was) a beautiful pink quartz irregular triangle set in gold that I lost in a taxi on the way to New York’s La Guardia Airport 20-some years ago, and I still mourn its loss.
I’ve never seen anything like it in all these years, though I’ve always been on the lookout for a similar pair. (I’ve never been able to bring myself to throw away the surviving one, either.)
Why have I lost so many earrings? My ears aren’t pierced, and so I wear clips, mostly vintage types from mid-century 1900, before pierced earrings became so ubiquitous; vintage clips are gorgeous and easily found at antique stores and shows. But, sigh, it’s so easy to take one off to talk on the phone or for some other reason, lay it down, and walk away without it. I know, I know: get my ears pierced, everyone says. But I won’t, so hats off to Kate for proving that piercing is not a fail safe protection against lost earrings either!
There’s no one fits all solution is there? I truly hope that you find a special rose quartz set or single to fill that space, Judi.
Judi, perhaps you could have the one remaining – and unique – earring made into a necklace pendant, so you would still be able to enjoy wearing it?
I’ll look them up, thanks!
If you lose the little rubber thingies you can use a pencil eraser til you get home