For Lucy, an Assemblage Necklace from Narnia

Dearest Lucy,

I made this for you today...I was twelve, I remember, when I read about you for the first time. So you must be in your late forties by now... I remember holding my breath as you tuned the handle to reveal the wondrous winter landscape that reflected with the surprise in your eyes. I was laying on my stomach in the grass in the Saturday sunshine in an adjacent empty field, and I looked up for a moment while Kelly Rae rode her bike clumsily past me down the street. Funny how we remember such brief moments so clearly isn't it?...but as Pavese said, "We do not remember days, we remember moments." So true.
Well, I have always loved reading, and The Chronicles was the first series that I ever read. The paperback pages were creased and yellowed from age, and I don't even remember where those books came from, but they were so new to me. As new to me as you were...so trusting and wide eyed.
Memories of the childlike wonder of your story came back to me this past sunny Saturday as I carefully chose each shabby vintage glass bead and sparkling old crystal for this simple necklace that echoes the beauty of the winter forest of Narnia that day; and somehow the juxtaposition of the two seems such an accurate reflection of my life as well... I know it seems like just a necklace, but it is the way I communicate these days...it is my voice ...without using words. I am so grateful for the gift of it, this being able to take what was once lost and forgotten and making it anew, but I sometimes wish it had come much sooner to me. It would have given me something to do on those nights while all of the children were asleep and I wandered the house at 2 a.m., looking for something to keep me sane in the stillness and the restlessness of my mid-twenties...
Lucy I have kept your spirit alive inside of me all of these years. You were trusting and young and true and brave. I'm feeling the need for you now, more than ever. This body of mine is broken and at times, I find that it breaks my spirit...
Accept this simple token of my affection and gratitude for coming to me in my gangly girlhood and staying with me for so long. Please stay longer Lucy, and help me to remember to always be wonder-full.


Love Always,
Jennifer