The Bracelet

My niece Christine and her family visited me last month.  What a beautiful, strong and fun loving family.  Charlie is a lucky father and grandfather to such a fine family. 

The weather wasn't what I had been hoping for, but Chris and her family exceeded my expectations. We had a great time despite the fact that a tropical storm (Bonnie) formed overhead the entire length of their stay. We went scuba diving, had a rib cook-off, enjoyed some beach time, and made the best of a wet and windy tropical island.  We made the most of it though and had us some fun. While here, I introduced them to the crucian tradition of hook bracelets.  They all (except Kevin of course, he's like John... not a jewelry man) went home with a Sonya hook around their wrists, properly positioned with the hook facing in to show that their hearts were taken.  :)   It was fun to see them "get" the concept of our island hooks.  

For the girls, we went one step further and in commemoration of their visit, and our first chance to really get to know each other, we visited Crucian Gold and I got us all Nathan's heart bracelet.  It is a beautiful bracelet with a gold heart featuring the crucian knot, mounted on a silver band.  I chose this bracelet because of the well recognized symbol of love, and the idea of a love knot being binding.  I wrote a poem for us to remind us:

The Bracelet, by Laura Ballard

A gold heart for love of family, a gold knot for the ties that bind us.
A silver bracelet around our wrist, meant simply to remind us
That it’s common folk we come from, and common genes unite us
We’ve many similarities that surprise and delight us
But the greater gift we’re given, the one that matters in the end
Is that we are now not just family, we are each other’s friend