i met my beautiful friend crystal when we worked together during college at a small grocery co-op. it was such a fun, homey place back then. we had such great times together! and now we have even more in common than just our love of healthy eating. she owns one of my favorite etsy shops of all time!
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i’m not sure how old i was when my grandmother gave me my music box, but for as long as i can remember i have always had it. it isn’t an expensive, elaborate, or especially beautiful music box; still it is one of the most treasured items i own.
my music box is a simple and light wood affair from japan whose only decoration is a book page of a young girl feeding chicks from her basket. i can’t count the number of times that i used to make up stories about the girl in the red handkerchief and her chicks. sometimes she was going to the market to sell the chicks and lost her nerve, or maybe she had found them and was taking them home, or better yet, she was little red riding hood and the chicks had been in her basket on the way to grandmother’s house.
when i open the music box i am instantly a little girl, safe and warm in my grandmother’s arms. i can hear her voice in the soft music that it plays and see her smile every time i open it. i have never been without my music box and it has become a favorite hiding place for my important items. i used to store my social security card in it until my husband made me stop!
however, when i moved to south korea the music box was broken. somehow a couple of screws came loose and now it is silent. i have been too nervous to take it into a repair shop because i don’t want them to tell me that it can’t be fixed. i remember taking it out of the box and cranking it to hear nothing, my heart broke and i cried.
my music box is one of the few things i have that remind me of my grandmother. she died when i was 19, nearly 9 years ago, and recently i have begun to forget what her voice sounded like, or what she smelled like. the music box always reminded me and without it’s music i was scared i might forget her presence. my husband, being the kind man that he is, made me realize that the music box didn’t have to work for me to remember her, and that she was with me no matter what, and that the music box is just a good reminder, not the measure of my memory of her.
even though the music box is now silent, i can still see my grandmother clear as day when i look at it. i love this little piece and i think a trip to the repair shop in the near future is in order.
thank you crystal!
visit crystal’s vintage clothing shop, here. (you’ll be IN LOVE!)
and follow her lifestyle blog, seoul sold!
