For their January birthdays, both daughters were invited to meet Sarah Graham, the Basalt metalsmith whose beautiful work I wear daily. Each could choose a piece of jewelry that suited her, and Jacey's January visit has rippled beyond her modest birthday ring into a second that stacks and sparkles just enough to celebrate her May college graduation!
Kit turned 25 in January, and when time finally allowed in April, we hiked an hour from home along the Rio Grande Trail to Sarah's studio and settled gratefully with a glass of wine, surrounded by tools, books, and a few cases of Sarah's pieces. Listening to Kit and Sarah chat made me miss the dressing room conversations and marking life's occasions with a special item or two.
When Kit popped out of the studio for a few moments, Sarah asked me "What do you tell your daughter about where she is now, in life?" Sarah has a son, and was musing about whether a mother, knowing the territory a daughter enters, can help her see herself more clearly, provisioning her for the next part of the journey.
Wearing her new quarter-life earrings, Kit and I met Lyle for dinner. It became a true early Mother's Day as the delight in giving the jewelry was compounded by talking to her about what I see in her and want her to see, too: her radiant and hard-earned confidence.
Many thanks to Sarah for putting the Mothering in Mother's Day! We can mother up, to the women who step first where we go next, to thank them for guidance and love, and we mother down, to chosen and born sons and daughters whose steps we wish to make easier and imbue with love.
