Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry

You know you have it.
Sitting in your jewelry box underneath your go-to gold earrings.
Or maybe the pieces are in a box next to your old class ring.
Items that had such strong emotional ties years a go, but now sit unused and lack luster.

For me, it's two pieces.
#1 -  A small pair of silver and diamond earrings given to me by my first serious boyfriend on my 22nd birthday. My first big time gift from a guy and I had to open it all alone on a snowy Kansas day. I considered these earrings my good luck earrings and wore them to every job interview. Turns out, they weren't all that lucky. I took me almost two years after receiving them to land a job and he turned out to be a little, um, let's say intense.

#2 - A silver and diamond past-present-future necklace from my post-college boyfriend for Christmas one year. Upon ripping open the wrapping paper, he sweatily blurted out "IT'S NOT A RING!". Wide-eyed, I slowly looked up at him and said, "Ok." I mean, I was in my parents guest bedroom surrounded by my Great Aunt's needlepoint. Not really my idea of perfect proposal place. As I pulled the necklace out of the box, my poker face said "It's beautiful! You shouldn't have! Diamonds?! What!?" And trust me, it was pretty and was truly a grand gesture. Serious jewelry from a serious boyfriend = "We're real serious right now." I loved it and I wore it everyday. But, my initial reaction internally to the necklace was, "Damn it, Kay Jewelers!" My past-present-future necklace was a collarbone advertisement for how well their marketing sucked in my then boyfriend.

To date it's been just shy of 5 years since I received the necklace and 7 since the earrings.

You might be asking yourself right now, why in the world do you still have them? You totally thought you were going to get back together with one of them, didn't you?

Answers: No idea and no (seriously, no. we'll talk more about it later - email me). That's all you need to know.

A couple Saturday's ago, I realized I was running an errand in the are of town where one of The Gold Rush Stores is located. If you live in the Nashville area, I am sure you are familiar with their obnoxious commercials with the miniature pinscher wearing goggles and a gold chain telling you to come on it.

So I dug out the pair of tarnished earrings with their mismatched backs, grabbed the necklace and threw them into a jewelry bag and headed into the pawn shop of sorts.

Rationally, I knew I wasn't going to get much money for the pieces. While thoughtful and generous, they were both small. After standing in silence for a few minutes, starring down old estate jewelry on display the man behind the counter remarks, "You might want to keep the earrings."

Laughing, I ask him why and how much I will get for them.
"50 cents."
Typical, I think, but I say, "You can keep them. I'll take the 50 cents."
"Are you serious?"
"100%"

He works in silence for a few more minutes before looking up and telling me he'll cute me a check for $20 for everything. .50 for the earrings and $19.50 for the necklace. "Sold!"

The man behind the counter then tells me to give him a minute because he's trying to extract the diamonds from the jewelry. Curiously, I ask him who I can sell the diamonds to. "No one's buying diamonds" he tells me as he places the splinter sized gems into a tiny plastic bag. "What am I supposed to do with these?" The guy shrugs his shoulders hands me the bag and a check for $20.

A couple hours later, I pull back into my condo complex and decide to check my mail.
Well, what do you know? My electric bill is exactly $20 more than I had planned for this month.

Jewelry when needed, air conditioner when needed. 
Funny how things work out.