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Monday, November 21, 2011

More Precious Than Rubies But Not As Precious As Jumping Off Waterfalls in Kauai.

I knew it would happen eventually.

Last week I sat next to my daughter who was about to receive an award of recognition (in the form of a necklace) at church for doing a crap load of admirable stuff.  It's called her Young Womanhood Recognition, and is earned through a rigorous, lengthy process that begins when they are 12 and ends whenever they finish all the requirements, but must be completed by their 18th birthday.  Most people wait until they are 17 years, 11 months, 29 days and 23 hours old to complete everything, but what can I say?  Samantha takes after her father.  Although the necklace's design has changed over time, women have been earning these awards for decades and many resurrect their medallions for such a night as this.  Jewelry that has sat at the bottom of the box for months will get pulled out, dusted off and displayed around one's neck as a unifying symbol of generations of good works and obedience.

I used to have one.

I don't anymore. 

This was the first time Samantha noticed.  Just before the program was to start she settled into the seat next to me and noticed the woman next to me who was fielding questions about the snazzy chain cradling her medallion.  After peeking at my bare neck she asked,  "Hey Mom, why aren't you wearing your necklace?"

I looked at her and smiled.  "You're so pretty."
"What?  No seriously, where is it?"
"Ummm...I sold it?"
She laughed.  "No, really."
"Uh, that IS for real."
"You SOLD it?  Why?"
"I needed the money to take your Dad to Hawaii."
"Wow.  That's just sad," she said as she sat down, shaking her head at me and smiling in amused disbelief. 

The medallion these days has a small red gemstone below the emblem of the temple, our holiest place of worship.  That night Samantha approached me and asked, "Do you think we could take this gem out and replace it with my birthstone instead?" 
"Well," I answered, "do you know why they put a red one in it?"
"No."
"It's from the scripture that talks about your value being more precious than rubies (Proverbs 3:15) so no, I think you should keep that one."
She didn't miss a beat, "Oh!  This coming from the one who SOLD hers?!"
Touche.
She proceeded to take one more crack at it and added, "Couldn't we just change it and say that my value is more precious than aquamarine?"

That girl.  Not even the Crown Jewels hold a candle.

11 comments:

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

She sounds like an absolute riot!


Uh......how much did you get for yours?
Just curious.

Vanessa said...

HA! Didn't see that one comin did ya? Love it.

Kristina P. said...

I literally don't remember anything about this stuff. I have the worst long term memory. Must be all the shrooms I did. (I kid, I kid! I was more into huffing. :))

anitamombanita said...

1. Congrats Samantha. 2. It has a ruby? Really? Mine's silver. No gem stone. 3. She's a gem. 4. You still crack me up.

Heather said...

I love that my favorite story of all time got worked into another post!

You are an amazingly funny family!

Rachel said...

I was YW Pres when I read your post about selling your medallion. Every time I presented an award after reading that I would think of your story, laugh, and then wonder what the future held for the outgoing medallions. My assumption is that the majority of them have a future at the bottom of a dark jewelry box, and few, if any, have the exciting future yours had to look forward to.

Way to go, Samantha! It's not an easy award to earn. To get it with time to spare is a great accomplishment. Now, on to those honor bees. (I wonder how much they'd bring in?) ;)

TheOneTrueSue said...

I love your daughter.

Stefani said...

Well I hope you sold it to one of those girls that missed the 18 year birthday cut off, so sometime in the future she can impress her daughter and other ward members at a Young Women in Excellence night. Then it would be truly worth it;)

Jill said...

Sam is such a good example for you :)

mormonhermitmom said...

(snerk) You know she's gonna tell her own daughters "what grandma did with her medallion".

I hear moms can now earn the award with their daughters. Maybe you can get a second one?

Anonymous said...

Oh, funny. My oldest daughter just got her honor bee, so for that one day she wore her medallion. She didn't ask where mine was. I think it might be buried deep within my jewelry box. Or I lost it. Sigh.