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| The lost pearl earring |
07.11.19 I'm working from home today when around mid-morning I get a tearful call from April. She says she has lost one of a pair of pearl earrings that my mother had given her last Christmas. She thinks the clasp must have worked loose somewhere between home and work and now it's gone. She only discovers this when she comes to remove the items at work, since her employer does not allow any jewelry. Can I check in the bathroom and kitchen for her, to see if it might be there? Sure, I can do this, but to no avail. I tell her not to worry - there is nothing either of us can now do. Half an hour later, though, she arrives home having taken a taxi back. Panic-stricken, she proceeds to check everywhere again, but still can't find it. Half-heartedly, I say that only her grandmother might help now, recalling the first time she lost a gold earring at home, later found under the fridge (as recounted in An Adjacent Place). She protests But Granny isn't here now and so she has no choice but to return to work once more, now crestfallen. Half an hour later, I feel some remorse and call to say we can always get a replacement. I'm stunned, though, to hear her happy voice saying that everything is now OK and that she has already found it. But how...? I ask. Her grandmother spoke to her on her way back down to the bus stop, just after she left our place. Don't worry little girl, your earring is not lost. Do you remember where your father-in-law slipped on the wet steps last year? Go and check near there. Take a look under those leaves. And there it is, sitting in the guttering, half-obscured by a leaf, fortunately not washed away by any rainwater. She has the presence of mind to take a photograph on her cellphone. Later, I suggest that buying any more earrings in future might not be a good idea but of course Granny would always be there to help her.
