Return of the Prodigal Earring

My prodigal earring returned yesterday, after I was about to declare it lost forever.  Would I keep the earring that remained?  Repurpose it?  Was it time to say that I had these earrings for 20+ years and throw the remaining earring away?

I returned home from Thanksgiving with it missing, which I thought was odd, since my earrings rarely left the box in which they traveled with the rest of my jewelry for Thanksgiving.  I looked at the jewelry, which might have snagged it.  My spouse thoroughly checked each suitcase.  I even shook out the clothes with which I had worn the earrings.

I am not the type to have earrings fall out of my ears.  I also rarely lose earrings, since I have a system that keeps it safe, meaning that I don't remove earrings and leave them on a surface where a dog later eats them or all the other disasters that could befall earrings out on their own.

So, days after our return from the mountains, I was thinking the earring was gone for good.  I felt sad beyond measure.  Those earrings were favorites of mine, given to me by my mom after one of her interesting travels back in the mid 90's.  They were beaded, purple and black and iridescent beads, subtle, but lovely.  My spouse went through the suitcases because they were favorites of his too.

Then, yesterday, I opened my jewelry travel box after my spin class and shower, and lo and behold, there it was, sitting in the middle of a bracelet. It had gotten nestled in the elasticized strands of freshwater pearls in a bracelet. I didn't see it Sunday night when it was missing or this morning when I put the bracelet in the box.

I was happy beyond proportion to see it again!  It was the kind of day with highs and lows--I got the task of buying tickets for Sunday's Broward Chorale concert and came out to find that someone had seriously dented my fender.  But the high of finding my earring overruled that distress.

Yes, I realize it means that I have put far too much value on my stuff.  The earrings aren't family heirlooms, after all, and they aren't precious, in terms of how much money I could get for them.  There aren't gems or precious metals.

As I mulled over my joy at the earrings, I thought about symbolism of all sorts, the kind that is important to English majors and the kind that is important on a religious/spiritual way.  I thought about the ways we give objects all sorts of meanings, and how it all enriches our lives.

I also thought about rewriting parables to give them a new twist.  Instead of the Prodigal Son who returns to his father and brother, would the parable take on new meaning if it was earrings, or something that only women wear/use?

These are questions to continue to ponder--time for another spin class.  What might I discover in my jewelry box today?  Unless it's a winning lottery ticket, it won't make me happier than yesterday's return of the prodigal earring.