I’ve always liked Trisha Yearwood’s song by the above title. Based on something most of us can relate to, she sings of hearing an old familiar song over the radio and lets the tune wind her back to a memory. Couples may have “their song” that reminds them of a first meeting, wedding or other time. Music can bring up a memory out of the blue when you are riding in a car, sitting at a desk or moving along with daily chores, but it’s not the only memory initiator.

Last week, using the drill in the house, my husband, unbeknownst to me, brought in an old tin can from the garage which housed the larger drill bits. He set it on the bookcase and went about his work. Later, it caught my eye and took my breath. As the picture shows, it’s just an old tobacco can, rusted, dented and worn; but it is a definite reminder of my father who died in 2000. It sat in Papaw’s workshop for many years. As the tears gathered in my eyes, I could almost smell that tobacco smoking from his pipe and see the gnarled mouthpiece of that same pipe he chewed upon when he quit smoking. The can also conjured that funny memory of my father doing a little jig the day he put that lit pipe into his pants pocket just a little too soon and it caught his pocket on fire. These are good memories and I’m thinking of leaving that sad old can in the house.

I’m sure I could name many other things that bring back memories, but today I’m thinking about some of the special jewelry pieces I’ve made that “remind me of a time”. One of these is the seed bead piece pictured here. It reminds me of our family joy when our daughter got married here at the ranch over three years ago. It was a small outdoor wedding, but totally ours as we did the planning, work, and setup. This simple, but beautiful event, set in the bluebonnets of our front circle, left me quite exhausted the following day; so I gathered my seed beads, plopped in a chair and declared that I should not be bothered. I sat there all day and made my very first freeform pendant. I still love wearing it and it emits happy memories when I look at it.

I’ve sold a good deal of pieces for weddings in the past years and I’m hoping that some of them bring pleasant memories for the purchaser. I also hope that those tourists who pass through the hill country and pick up a local artist jewelry souvenier find pleasant memories when wearing each piece. Certainly, those folks who have recently purchased “Ralph’s Rocks”, picked up and polished on a ranch in Cameron, Texas, which I’ve wired and hung on copper neck wires were looking for a little piece to help them remember our hill country.

Many people look for little treasures while traveling to help them recall the trip. I’ve repaired many such “treasures” for people who just couldn’t part with an inexpensive and, in my mind, often not so pretty, piece of jewelry because of where it came from or the special person who gifted it. I enjoy hearing the stories of why the piece is meaningful.

While all our design pieces certainly will not store precious memories, I’m struck today by the power of the few. I believe I’ll be paying even more careful attention to construction of my designs in the future so those little treasures will hold up. We just never know when the “necklace will remember when”.