Shelli Emerson Foth

I used to wear a star necklace. Pretty much all of the time. It was a simple white star made out of some sort of shell material on a plain black string. Nothing fancy but i thought it was cute.

I bought it in Mexico. My cousins took me with them on thier vacation to Mexico to nanny thier 18month son. It was awesome. We were walking a long a strip in Playa Del Carmen, a town a little ways out of Cancun, and i saw a variety of necklaces made out of some kind of shell material on a simple black string hanging in the door of a shop. For some reason they caught my eye, the star especially, but we kept walking and i didnt want to stop. I kept looking for another shop that carried them, but this little shop was the only one. Luckily we had to walk back by it to get to the car.

I did end up buying it. I probably payed too much for it, but by that time i was too tired to try and bargain for a better price from the wrinkled mexican lady who was running the shop... whatever.

When i bought it, it didnt mean anything special. I didnt buy the necklace because stars had some sort of specific meaning to me. I just bought it cause it was cute, and i wanted a necklace from Mexico.

What was interesting, though, is that as i wore it, it kind of became something special. I hardly ever took it off. If i did, people would notice, my family and friends would comment on the fact that i wasn't wearing it. It was interesting. I tried a few times to make up a really good story as to what it meant, but nothing seemed quite right. It just was what it was, a simple star necklace that looked really cute with dresses and jeans alike. That, i think was my favorite part about it. I could wear it with anything!

Two years i wore that necklace, i think... It went through about 3 strings, but i still kept wearing it.

This spring/beginning of summer me, and 4 cousins my great aunt and my grandma went to Hawaii. It was a great trip. All 5 of us cousins got along really great and we truly just had a good time with each other.

While we were there, My cousin Hannah and i were walking in the lobby of our hotel (which was amazing, the lobby was all open air and the hotel was just beautiful!) and there was a Hawaiian lady selling trinkets on a table there. My grandma told us we should go look when we were down there, so we did. Amidst the carved turtles, and bracelets that say "Aloha!" there was a bunch of random necklaces made out of whale bone on a plain black strings. They instantly caught my eye, but i didnt really like any of them because honestly, who wants a carved turtle around their neck? Sort of at the bottom of the pile, though, there was the most beautiful little seahorse pendant. It was intricatly carved and even had a small shell for an eye on it. I was told that these were all walebone necklaces that were hand carved by the vendor's husband. It was goregeous, i had to have it.

Unfortunatly, Hannah picked it up first. Her friend Alyssa LOVES seahorses. She was going to get it for her. I was a little bummed, and i asked the lady if she had another one. She fished through a bunch of baskets but didnt have any luck. She kept looking though, and luckily found another one. feuf.

I bought it, and took it back up to my hotel room. Then i took off my star. There was almost pang of remorse as i slid the star off of my neck, but the seahorse was SO cute, and besides, the star didnt MEAN anything too me, just like the seahorse didnt, psh! It wasnt really true though, the star did mean something to me, i'd worn it for so long that it just did.

I put the star in my makeup bag and tied the new necklace around my neck. It was really pretty. I sort of missed it for awhile though.

I ended up giving the star to my boyfriend, he kept it on his keychain and i think because of that, the tips chipped off and it broke. I was sort of sad, but at the same time, i wasnt.

I almost feel like that star symbolizes a time of my life that is over. I know its just a silly little thing, but i wore that star ALL THE TIME. Through a lot of highschool i wore that thing, through a lot of experiences and a lot of stuff, i was always wearing that star. It was bold, it was bright, it was sassy. Oh yeah!

When i bought the seahorse, a new chapter of my life was begining to unfold. I had literally, JUST graduated from highschool. Responsiblility and worry was weighing heavily on me for lots a reasons and spring and summer were a time of immence change, and a lot of pain and questions.

I remarked to my boyfriend at one point, that the seahorse is a much more delicate item than the star was. Its beautifully carved and made with care, where the star was just a simple pendant. I felt like it was the same with me. I felt like i was more delicate, i felt like i was less bold, and less sassy. I feel like some of the roughness in me has been worn off, some of the points of the star are gone. Its a good thing i think.

The seahorse i wear now symbolizes a different time in my life, i guess, and different ME really. Spring and summer and even fall, shaped me into something completely different, SOMEONE completely different.

Its interesting to look back and see the changes. Its exciting.

Shelli