CHARMCO

Petra's Charm Bracelet

"We started the bracelet with three charms for Petra’s thirteenth birthday.  The bracelet itself belonged to my husband’s maternal grandmother, an actress named Peggy Knudsen. She never became famous but was a B movie starlet in the 1950s. My husband and I gave her the ballet shoe—she’s been a serious ballerina since age 9. Her great aunt (a daughter of the actress) and great uncle gave the ice cream cone (ice cream is one of her food groups lol), and her aunt and uncle gave the cool vintage “Love” charm.  Once she had the bracelet, Petra asked to add the monogrammed disc, which my mother had given me (on a different bracelet) for my college graduation. She also chose to add the oil derrick which was originally my grandfather’s cufflink; he was an Oklahoma oil man his entire life. The penguin was her middle school’s mascot and commemorates her middle school graduation. The tea pot I gave her to memorialize her freshman year at boarding school—she drank lots of tea for late nights of hard work. During the first pandemic lockdown in 2020, we decided to try to learn to sew together—hence the thimble. The bunny—for one of my nicknames for her—was for Christmas in 2020, and your mask charm, meant to symbolize getting through this time that has been so hard on kids and teens (little did I know we’d still be in the thick of it all these months later), was for successfully finishing her sophomore year despite all the challenges.  And now we are celebrating 17 (next month) with the new heart. It says 'Love you more' because that’s what we always reply when one of us says 'I love you.'"