i have this set of pearls from so many years ago and for the longest time they were stuck in my sock drawer until i found them again last year. and so my love affair with pearls got renewed.
where i grew up, i was not allowed to wear pearls when i was young. pearls were only for married and older women. it was bad luck for a single girl to wear pearls or she ran the risk of ending up an old maid. hahaha! you can imagine my mother's horror when i found a real pearl pendant and wore it to school. i wore it for days and i think she must've said the rosary every hour for as long as i wore the pendant, begging the gods to spare her eldest daughter from being an old maid. after a week, i got tired of it because i developed rashes around my neck from the silver chain. that's when i found out i cannot wear silver.
there are superstitions that i like to believe but mostly i disregard them. my mother disliked this attitude of mine but she knew i was different from my siblings. i just won't conform. i had a different view of things. however, had she lived, i believe i would have conformed to her conventional belief that i should get married, be submissive to my husband (bwahahaha!), have about three or four children (heaven help me - or the children!), stayed home and be the traditional filipino mother, wife, housekeeper. horrors! but this daughter of poor labourers had an ambitious goal of getting out of the poverty the family was in.
my family calls me an 'old maid'. i tell them an old maid never had sex. that usually puts an end to the conversation.
if i am unmarried, it is out of choice for me. my two sisters married and one is divorced and the other is separated. the partner and i, we don't see ourselves putting this partnership into some kind of conventional formality. we are committed to each other (as long as he doesn't piss me off) and by law, common law, that is, we are as good as married anyway. but he won't give me any pearl, necklace or whatever. he said i have too many already aside from my other jewelry that i don't care to wear anyway, even the diamond ring he gave me. "well, honey, had you given me a pearl ring - which by the way, i don't have, yet!, maybe i'll wear it." let's see what happens in july.
Beautiful comp of these gorgeous pearls . . the color tone is amazing. You did it all "your way," Summerfield. And you have survived it all and have been blessed. Your Mom would be very proud of you.
Wow that is a lot of info from one simple shot. This shot is very nice like the colour tones you used. You take very nice shots for an old maid, hahaha. Now this has me thinking about a pearl that melody got when we were at Sea World in San Diego and she never did anything with it. Maybe I should take it and surprise her with it which I am sure will be easy to do since I think she has forgotten about
@karenann - i got all i want, and i have a great hobby and wonderful friends. old maids are lonely and miserable. well, generally! thank you, karenann.
@olivetreeann - i still have the old pendant and that is the only real pearl i own and it's a teeny-weeny pendant. two or three necklaces are what they call fresh water pearls or cultured pearls and and the rest are just cheap-o's. amazingly, the cheap ones are the ones that look the nicest. thank you, ann.
you crack me up!!!!! I LOVE this picture and love pearls as well! As a matter of fact, I am wearing a pearl ring today!!! It's also one of the birthstones for my birth month (June). LOVE your response about being an old maid -- hahahahaha! Loved all your responses -- were you drinking??!?! Yes, your mother and mine were praying that rosary together -- and still I don't conform. I think she's gotten a little more use to the idea -- but not much -- hahahaha! And perhaps you are like me as well in that you are allergic to the nickel alloys in metal -- no metal against this skin lest I want to break out and itch for a week or two! Have to wear 24 carat gold -- or cloth. I manage because I LOVE jewelry. There is one earring company called Simply Whispers that do not use nickel alloys in their metals, so I can wear that. Anyway -- pearls work because they won't cause our skin to break out right -- ?!?! I just so look forward to your photos and responses every day!! Maybe we were twins separated at birth?!? Or, sisters from a past life, I do believe! Pearls to us!
@cscecil - whoa! i thought i was writing that! yeah, CS, we could've been twins! how come you have a beautiful nose bridge and i don't??? sisters from a past life, probably! as long as i'm the one who beats you, okay. hehehe! thank you, CS.
@steeler - maybe next year when i turn 60 my partner will give me that pearl ring! good luck to me, eh? thank you, howard.
@cscecil - whoa! i thought i was writing that! yeah, CS, we could've been twins! how come you have a beautiful nose bridge and i don't??? sisters from a past life, probably! as long as i'm the one who beats you, okay. hehehe! thank you, CS.
@sunnygreenwood - the only chance maybe is if i buy it myself. thank you, anne.
@slash - thank you, susan.