About 2 months after my mother died in 22014, I got a call from the assisted living home. “Now what?” I thought. It can’t be another problem with Mom, because she’s gone.” But they had just discovered an envelope in the office safe with my mother’s name on it, and inside the envelope was a diamond ring. This was strange, because I don’t remember that ring, but there it was with her name on it, so I went and got it.

I don’t particularly care to wear a ring, unless it’s a wedding ring, so I decided to have it made into a bracelet. I took it to a jewelry designer, who made a very simple silver bracelet with the diamond setting .

When I went to my daughter’s for Christmas, I took the bracelet with me, because I had planned to wear it to church, but I didn’t want to wear it while traveling, for fear of losing it, and I didn’t want to pack it in my suitcase, so I kept it in my purse.

On the way home, as I got off the plane, the flight attendant said to me, “Did you lose a bracelet? There’s one on your seat.” “No,” I said. “I wasn’t wearing a bracelet.” Then in the next breath, I said, “Wait a minute. Let me see that bracelet.” Yes, there it was, the diamond bracelet, almost lost once again. I call this a God moment. Had she not been looking at the seat that I had just vacated, and had I not changed my mind immediately and asked to see that bracelet, my mother’s diamond would be gone forever. Obviously, I need a safer place to carry a valuable piece of jewelry. I had been into my purse a dozen times, fishing out my phone and treats for Dora, Kleenex, cough drops, and any number of things, and I never touched that bracelet. How it jumped out of my purse and landed on the seat, I’ll never know, but I’m glad it’s now back on my wrist where it belongs. It’s a kind of anniversary surprise, because I picked up that bracelet from the jeweler exactly one year ago today.