My most treasured possession

I'm not going to say my family because I don't own them, or my cat because... well, have you ever had a cat? While I love him to bits, we have more of an employer/employee relationship. No, my most treasured possession has to be my earrings.

My mum died of cancer in the summer of 1995. She had always wanted some "real" jewellry but she and my dad could never afford anything when they were young and as they got older it just wasn't a priority. All she had was her wedding ring and a box full of plastic stuff (we'd just left the 80s, after all) and costume jewellry. For her final birthday that March, my brother and his girlfriend, and Scott and I pooled our money together and finally bought her something special. They were everyday studs with little pearls and sapphires. I'll never forget her face when she opened the tiny velvet box.

When she died a few months later, her will was pretty standard and she left me that jewellry box full of old plastic bangles and junky stuff. But along with it, she had added a note saying that I was to "enjoy the pearl earrings... I know they were your idea".

I love those earrings more than anything I own. Their simplicity means I can wear them to preschool and they go with everything. I love not needing an "occasion" to put them on because if I did I know I'd never wear them. In fact, I wore them to work today. They aren't extravagant so when I get a compliment on them (which happens more often than I expect) I feel like she's winking or smiling at me. I always tell the person, who has unknowingly made my day, that they were my mum's and thank them.

So tell me... what's your most treasured possession?

kxx