I have a piece of jewelry I call, “My Beating Heart”.

One day I will pass this wonderful piece of jewelry down to my children with a message. That message will explain why I created this heirloom for them to ponder and touch. I envision my great-great-grandchildren seeing a picture of me, and being told my name as they look at the beautiful rainbow of colors and touch the smooth softness of the gemstones and gold. They will hear the words I left for them, from a long time ago, and they will know not only what life meant to me, but become connected to the very personal history we share as a family.

I also have a piece of jewelry I call, “Mr. Silverfish.”

One day I will pass this piece of jewelry down to my children with a message. That message will explain that I received this extraordinary gift from a beloved friend who had no children. My written words will speak of who she was, and where she came from, and how on one gorgeous summer day she discovered this wonderfully engineered, reticulated silverfish at a garage sale. She didn’t know its history, yet somehow it became a part of ours, even helping to birth this book. I will ask my future heirs to adopt the incredible Mr. Silverfish with her memory alive in our family story, and in honor of friendship. And hopefully, they will become more connected as jewelry stewards, to the historic world community they share.

As a jeweler for so many years, I have heard the most amazing stories and told a few doozies myself! There is never enough time to hear or tell them all. Almost every person I meet has some story to pass to the future. These kinds of stories are alive with meaning, full of unexpected twists and turns, and in many cases, just plain fun. In my opinion, whether these stories are completely true or part fable, their main intention is to convey the values, joys or sorrows of the speaker and the house they come from. Most will never be written down.

That is why I created this book. To find ways to awaken and equip as many people as possible to write these very personal stories down, and by attaching them to “time-proof” jewelry articles or other heirlooms, increase their chances of conveying a meaningful preservation of their family history. By attaching these stories to jewelry appraisals we encourage, even if a lineage is about to expire, a greater catalog of human experience for our historic world family to share. To write the stories we know for coming generations is to respectfully bow to our past, and lovingly nod to the future with a richer historical perspective. It also produces firmer ground for the coming generations to stand on, so they can take the broader information we leave and hopefully, make better, more informed choices for those that follow them.

Since I believe that written history is the wind in our time traveling sails as humans, to master the art of speaking through the “open sea” of time, we need only a willingness to record what is in our hearts and the choice of tools to do so.    

What stories will you leave behind?