Bring back the charm bracelet

This week I happened to take out my Mom's charm bracelet. I attached it to my wrist, listening to the jingle-jangle as I worked, and stopping on more than one occasion to gaze at the little silver charms.
It's like a mental photo album, flooding my mind with remembrances of days gone by. There is a charm from her jeweler sister -- a silver B encased in a padlock, always a chic token from Tante Ingrid. The very sentimental "A Date to Remember," marking the day my Mom became an American citizen -- this was given to her by my grandmother, her mother-in-law, who my Mom said was always so kind to her. A zebra from Africa; a little stagecoach from Tombstone, Arizona, home of Wyatt Earp. My Mom & Dad travelled constantly and the bracelet is laden with snapshots from their life together. The Olympics in Los Angeles; Chinatown in San Francisco; Las Vegas; Jamaica; Bermuda; and a tiny 3-dimensional diver...from...could be any island. A miniscule pewter mug, reflective of the pewterware my Mom had, and visits to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Rothenberg, one of many visits to her homeland. And a miniature windmill from the Netherlands. She loved Delft pottery, and while she travelled to The Netherlands a few times with my father, I'm lucky to have my own memories of the two of us (and Troy) together in Amsterdam & Delft, before Wyatt was born. We went to the Anne Frank house; ate ristofle at her urging (spectacular!); smoked outside at a cafe b/c "everyone was doing it; why not;" cruised the canals; and made a day-trip to Delft together, where we enjoyed a nice lunch all together in the sunshine.
It really is charming, this bracelet, and I have such vivid memories of not only the events, but the charms, too, that it makes my heart ache while simultaneously swelling with happy thoughts of special times. What a conversation piece. I gave it to Wyatt to have a look at, and he really was enthralled. We talked about my parents and various places, and spoke of adventures we hope to make together in the future. There is a small glass vial with a silver cap on my Mom's bracelet, and it contains earth from her hometown of Kassel, Germany. I remember when she received this, there was a celebration -- an anniversary marking. I always knew that it was significant in that it was a piece of where she came from, and her bracelet to me serves much the same purpose. You can look at it and see a tiny glimpse of, not the town, but the woman I came from.