Pearls of Wisdom

We went into very few shops in Prague. 

I chose very, very carefully. 

My favorite, by far, was Ahasvar.
Sadly, I took no pictures, but you can find some here.

Ahasvar is a true feast for the eyes. 

Carefully chosen, cleaned and displayed. 

Beautifully curated in every way. 

Including the owner. 

I had a hard time at first. She's pregnant. Quite pregnant. 

Part of me wanted to run. 

The better part of me stayed 

and found my most treasured find from Prague.

These pearls are not real, but will be a wonderful reminder of a very real time. 

In Prague with my husband, wandering and wondering.

There are 10 strands, each 48" (122cm) long, that's a lot of pearls. They are stranded, not knotted. They're are also heavy - the shop owner said they were glass - probably from the 60s. They look like they've never been worn. Well at least before I found them. They went to dinner with us that night. Doubled up (like the picture above) over a dark brown V-neck sweater.

I felt so elegant.

We also went into another "antique" shop. This one was chucker block full and not displayed very carefully. I had to move three lamps in order to browse through a pile of tablecloths and linens. But for the effort I was rewarded with four reasonably priced and cuttable pieces. Ahasvar has linens too ... oh, I wish I had taken a picture of her cabinet. So carefully washed, starched, ironed *and* tied with ribbons. Beautiful. Obviously her linens are the ones to buy and treasure. The ones I bought will be made into fun stuff including cafe curtains for our kitchen!

Between the two shops I also found a book - "Conversational French" (in Czech!),

these very heavy forks, a few buttons and some cookie molds.

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Many years ago my parents bought 5 sets of pearls. 

One for my mom and each of their daughters.

Then I came along. 

Uh oh. 

Now what? 

I'd always been told I would get mom's pearls.

Daughter 1 got married when I was 8 months old. 

She wore her pearls.

Daughter 3 got married and wore her pearls.

Daughters 2 and 4 got married on the same day. 

They both wore their pearls.

My parents flew to London for our wedding. 

No need to fly to the states. 

It wasn't a big deal, really?

Mom's pearls were no where to be found.

They were hunted high and low.

A phone call came. 

Two possible solutions. 

Daughters 1 & 2 were offering me the loan of their pearls for my special day.

Hmmmm

I went for option 2 ... she was my godmother after all.

It made sense.

We got married. It was a hot day. A lovely day. Simple and true.

After a week's visit Mom and Dad flew home with my godson.

Then daughter 1 discovered her pearls were missing or misplaced.

Did I have them?

No.

I never had them, never wore them.

Are you sure?

Yep.

But I had to prove it. 

With a picture.

Snapshots from our wedding.

I am definitely wearing daughter 2's pearls. 

She put tiny gold beads between some of the pearls to make her strand longer.

I don't know if daughter 1 ever found her pearls.

Mom's pearls have never been found.

Maybe those pearls were never *really* mine.

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But I do feel wiser.

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