One of my favorite childhood memories is that of playing with my moms turquoise and silver jewelry. I remember hearing the story of how she and my dad had very little money, but how much they loved to travel by car.
They had friends who had relocated west – so west they traveled to Arizona several times in the first years of their marriage. Mom always talked about how dad was a good driver on those trips, but she was also very fond of telling how they nearly missed hitting a cow that had wandered into the middle of the road when dad wanted to “test” how fast his car would go – and how good the brakes worked.
She also loved talking about how they stopped just outside of a Native American reservation where they found a little old man making turquoise and silver jewelry on the side of the road. Now, keep in mind this was the mid 1950’s so for my dad to buy three exquisite pieces of handmade silver jewelry (earrings, bracelet and ring) for around $60 was a VERY expensive prospect. But, mom loved the color turquoise and dad was head-over-heels in love with mom. And, so began my inherited love affair with the color turquoise.
– M.M.
The Marvelous Michelina 