The bracelet of your beloved grandmother lost a charm (in Doggies, of all places) and you are utterly heartbroken. You love your grandmother so much and to be given this bracelet was an honor, for which you wore it proudly. You are afraid to tell your mom, worried about sending it to the jewelers and can’t even bare to think about how your grandmother would feel if she found out. But did you even like the bracelet that much?
Sentimental value is something that seems to gain importance as we get older. You get items handed down to you and you learn the importance that each of them holds. It is a privilege to be given the chance to wear, showcase or own something that someone else once loved so dearly and wanted to pass on to you. But the importance lies in the act of passing things down, the cycle of love that exists in the life of the item, rather than the actual item itself.
A lot of nervousness comes with having something of high sentimental value. Half of the time, there is so much anxious energy in owning something so loved or important that you don’t even get to use it to its full potential. It sits on its shrine in the family room collecting dust. It is good to take care of our nice items, as our ancestors or those before us would want us to, but they would also want us to enjoy the items that they so much enjoyed once before. And more than that, they just wanted you to be the receiver of the gift, because they saw a glimpse of you in it.
To look at a beautiful item, whether it be a bracelet or a watch or anything at all and see someone else is a great act of love. Your grandmother didn’t give you the bracelet as a means of handing over an anxiety-ridden item for you to worry over, she gave it to you because she loved you- not the bracelet.
Stressing over monetary items when there is a deeper meaning within them seems to debunk the whole point of what adds the value of sentiment. Sure, the item was once adored, but so are you. And sure, your mom might scream at you when she finds out the charm of your grandmother’s bracelet is somewhere in between the booths at Doggies, but just remember the reason why you were given it in the first place.
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