DailySusan Humor Blog

GINNY'S BRACELET

And when she hath found it,
she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying,
Rejoice with me;
For I have found the piece which I had lost.
— Luke 15:9

We were halfway across the country last weekend, under the blue skies of Chapel Hill, N.C., for our daughter’s college graduation. An old, old friend of both my mother and my mother-in-law lives in nearby Greensboro. She arranged a wonderful reunion luncheon.

She and my mother-in-law grew up together in Lincoln, and with my mom were members of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln over a half-century ago. Dad called them “Theta Potatas.”

And Dad loved Ginny. I had never met her, but it was love at first sight. Under snow-white hair were sparkling eyes, a radiant smile, and the confident build of a lifelong athlete. She’s an active grandmother who loves to refinish old furniture and volunteers to hold newborn babies at her local hospital. She loves ‘em all, old and new.

My daughters and I were outgunned verbally – what a rarity! -- so we sat back and reveled in the warmth and energy of the reunion of the three long-lost friends. When they looked at each other, they must have seen the girls they used to be. In my mind played the old camp song, “Make new friends, but kee-eep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold.”

Just then, Ginny brought something shiny out of her pocket.

It was a sterling silver I. D. bracelet. On one side was engraved, “Ginny Noble.” That was her maiden name. On the other, it read: “From The Gang. 2-10-45.”

It seems that earlier this month, a fellow was using a metal detector up at the Minnesota lake where the Noble family, my mother-in-law’s, and many other families from Lincoln spent the summers in the days before air conditioning.

There was snow on the ground up there, but the guy still found something in the sand. It was badly tarnished and had some writing on it that he could barely read. He slipped it into his pocket.

Later, two older women who were staying at the cottage next door came outside. It was a surprise, since it was still about a month early for the summer residents to arrive. He waved to them, and took out the bracelet.

“Who’s Ginny Noble?” he asked.

Who’s Ginny NOBLE?!? Their jaws dropped. They were old, old friends. They’d known her since she was a girl. They had hung out with her at that very cottage . . . 60 years ago.

So they called her, down in Greensboro. She was elated to hear about it. She vaguely remembered receiving the sterling silver bracelet as a birthday present from her friends, and later losing it when the clasp must have broken.

“Send it right down to me,” she asked, telling them of the upcoming reunion luncheon with my mom and mother-in-law. She had the clasp fixed and polished it all up, good as new.

For six decades, that bracelet lay in the sand, forgotten and meaningless, and would have stayed that way . . . except for the lucky break that the two ladies were there and could tell the guy who Ginny Noble is, so that the bracelet didn’t get tossed away.

And lose its chance to say so much.

You see, my mother-in-law was in that gang of girls who gave Ginny that bracelet on the occasion of her 13th birthday, six decades ago.

And my mother, like Ginny, is a widow, for whom reassurance that relationships are forever means everything in the world.

It was obvious that this happy accident wasn’t just for Ginny. This was a God thing. We all got tingles, and a little teary. We all were beaming.

So who’s Ginny Noble? I’ll tell you who she is:

Someone for whom the circle of life is coming complete, just like that bracelet encircling her wrist.

Someone for whom all that has been lost is being found.

Someone with silver hair rejoicing with pure gold -- old friends -- over faithfulness . . . the faithfulness of the best Friend of them all.

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Prayer request: Father, there’s someone very special who’s struggling with depression, bouts of suicidal ideation, and lots of “stuff.” He needs Your tender, loving care, delivered through the wisdom and kind words of a Godly counselor. Precious Redeemer, let him know that You are with him, and make him patient to wait for Your deliverance. In the meantime, we pray for a hedge of protection around him, and peace and courage for his loved ones through this trial. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)