THE PENDANT AND THE TAT

It was a long time ago and only yesterday.
That’s how some memories of mine go.
I’ll bet yours too.

We weren’t married yet but we were living together and yes, in sin.
But we were planning on being married so I think that makes it just venial.

It was October and we flew to Maui with two of our favorite friends…..the kind of friends who make you forget you’re adults.

I was an ER nurse at the time and one of my most generous nurse girlfriends offered us her Maui condo while we were there.
It was in Lanai, her patio door opened up to a grassy area that led smack to the Pacific…..right there in her front yard, the Pacific Ocean.

It was a few days before we were leaving, it began like every day….. get up, get ready, go to work.
But, what I didn’t know was on THAT day, my sweet, almost-husband didn’t go to work.
I THOUGHT he went to work, but he didn’t.
He drove the 3+ hours to Carmel and then back home without me knowing that it was anything other than his normal work day.

The morning of our marriage, he gave me a gift.
A crystal wand pendant from the kiosk in Carmel.
The kiosk was magical to me, loaded with beautiful stones and jewelry.

I dipped the wand into the Pacific to cleanse it of all touch except my own and I put it around my neck.
In the 30+ years I’ve had that wand, it’s only been a few days when it wasn’t around my neck.
Every time over the years someone has reached out to touch it, meant another trip to the Ocean so I could dip it and cleanse it.

I’ve obsessed over the thought of losing it.
Should I wear it and chance losing it?
Should I not wear it and let it sit somewhere not being enjoyed?
So, I wore it and obsessed.

A few years ago, my problem was solved.
As usual, my husband came to the rescue and figured out a way for me to always have that wand, even if I lost it.

It’s on his upper arm now, my wand…..on his arm!

And oh, our Maui wedding?
It was amazing but we didn’t really get married.
The minister said all the words and pronounced us but we didn’t sign the paper making it legal but…..
that’s another story.