My son is getting married to a wonderful young woman. Her mother died when she was only five years old so she was raised by her father. We have become very close. She has shared with me that she is excited to be part of a whole family and she has asked if she might call me mom. This has had a big impact on me. I know that I want to do something very distinctive to welcome my new daughter into the family. I was telling this to my best friend. She suggested buying her a piece of jewelry that she could wear on their wedding day. I knew my friend had given me a wonderful idea. My mother had given me a mother of pearl pendant necklace on my wedding day. This gift had been a changing point in my relationship with my mother. From the moment that my mother gave me the mother of pearl pendant necklace we were equals in our relationship.

I had been with my future daughter in law when she was searching for her wedding dress. I knew that she had very refined classic tastes. Her dress had a very simple cut with very fine detailed beading. The top of the dress had one inch wide straps with an empire waste. The short veil that she had chosen had matching beading. I knew that she was going to be searching for a necklace to wear with the dress. I told my husband that I was going to make a date with our future daughter in law to go shopping for the necklace and that I would purchase it for her. I felt that due to the fact that this is such an important piece of jewelry she should be involved in picking it out. When I called her to set up the date she was very touched by the gesture. We met a few days later and began looking in jewelry stores. She was having a difficult time finding the right necklace. It was also difficult to pick out the necklace without having the dress. We didn’t find anything that day so we went back to our home where we were meeting the guys for dinner. My future daughter in law was looking at our wedding picture that’s on the mantel. She complimented me on how well my mother of pearl pendant necklace matched my dress. I went and got the mother of pearl pendant necklace so she could see it. She thought it was gorgeous. I explained that my mother had provided me the mother of pearl pendant necklace on our wedding day and that if she thought it went well with her dress I would be very proud to pass the necklace on to her.

As soon as the words were spoken I knew that this was the right thing to do. The mother of pearl pendant necklace that had helped my relationship with my mother evolve was having the same effect on the relationship with my new daughter. We were both overwhelmed by the minute and cried in each others arms. The guys arrived at this time and understood that something significant had just happened. The mother of pearl pendant necklace had again cemented a relationship.