The first hoop earrings I ever saw were worn by an infant—she can’t have been two. She was a neighbor’s child, and the neighbor was Italian-American. The ethnicity is relevant because her ears were pierced, and I had never seen anybody that young with pierced ears. My lobes were still intact, and I was nearly ten.… Continue reading Hoop Dreams
Tag: Reinstein/Ross
The Opal
I’ve always been a little afraid of opals. They’re temperamental: brittle, heat-sensitive, easily scratched. They contain water, and someone once told me they should be stored in damp cotton to keep them from cracking. (This is usually not necessary.) Oh, and it’s supposedly unlucky to wear opals if they’re not your birthstone. (Opals are October. I’m June: pearl, moonstone, alexandrite.)… Continue reading The Opal
Solace
I had an enormous ginger Maine Coon cat named Beckett, and when he died at age 15 in 2011, the loss was enormous too. He’d had medical issues that required round-the-clock care, so I was both heartbroken and exhausted. I said to myself: “I need sapphires.” I was well aware that this was an outrageous statement. I could imagine Marie… Continue reading Solace
Yet More Jewelry 