More Than Jewelry ~ Jessica's Story

I love having pieces I can hand down to my children someday. My collection has grown into something really special: Mini Dog Tags with each of my girls’ names and birthstones, a Mini Dog Tags with my husband’s name, two gold bangles with my girls’ initials, and my wedding date on the Pavé Vertical Date Charm. But there’s one piece with a story I’ve never really shared. It’s my little pink birthstone.

I was a single mom to my oldest daughter until she was five. When she was one, I met someone and fell completely in love, and soon I found out I was pregnant. One day, while packing for a Disney trip, I went to grab my Pandora bracelet and realized all of my jewelry was gone. My grandmother’s rings, the birthday gifts from my parents, every piece that had been handed down to me. I soon learned the man I loved had been hiding an addiction. I felt violated, and the safety my daughter and I had was gone.

At seven weeks pregnant, I made the hardest decision of my life, for me, for the daughter I already had, and for a baby who would have come into a world already full of mistrust. I found out I was pregnant in October, and I always felt in my heart she was a girl. I named her Grayson so she would have a name and an identity, and I bought an October birthstone for her. Six months later, her father passed away in a car accident brought on by his addiction.

I live with that decision every day. There is regret, but there is also peace in knowing I made the right choice for my daughter and me.

Today I’m married to a teacher and high school football coach. We have a two year old together, and I have a ten year old stepson who has been in my life since he was little. I couldn’t be happier.

Tiny Tags isn’t just jewelry to me. It’s how I’m rebuilding the collection, and the world, that was once taken from me. My girls will have a beautiful collection someday, and Grayson’s pink stone will always be part of it.

~Jessica