There are women in our life who, although not biologically related to us, are our family. Surrogate mothers, aunts, and sisters who nurture us, teach us, and yes, love us. Mary, my own mother's best friend and former college roommate, is one of these women to me. When I think of her, I think of a story she told me about humbleness and appreciation. When she was a child her family did not have much. One day, her father came home with a bag of shoes for his children. He laid the shoes out on the bed and as her siblings fought over the nicer pairs and complained when they were not perfect or the most fashionable, Mary picked the purple shoes. The purple shoes that nobody wanted, that were the least perfect, and least fashionable. Her siblings ran out of the room with their new shoes but Mary was the only child to thank her father. She thanked him because she had shoes, purple or not, and because her father provided for her in a time when it was difficult to do so. Mary told me this story many years ago, probably at a time when I most needed to hear it and it has remained with me to this day. This necklace helps me remember what Mary taught me. The pearl is for motherhood and the purple pearl is for Mary's purple shoes. The pink Buddha is to remind me of her appreciation and humbleness even as a small girl. As a mother of two girls of my own there are virtues I would like to instill in my children that are difficult to teach and even more difficult to learn. Luckily, I have an excellent role model to help me with my goals.
