A Pair of Earrings

A Simple Pair of Earrings

I have these pearls that my dad bought me from Spain back when I was in 4th grade. I started 4th grade in 2001, and my dad was in Spain and many other places in the Mediterranean  and Persian Gulf for a 6 month deployment for the Navy.

I started 4th grade with excitement. I was going to see my dad soon, I think it was 1-2 months left of his deployment at that point. I was going on a Tiger Cruise - which meant that I was flying with my brother to FL to get on the USS Enterprise to do the rest of the cruise with my dad to Virginia. There were feelings of such joy, like Christmas, but better. 

Then something happened that shook our country, the military and their families, and me. September 11, 2001. I remember the day vividly. I was in Art class when we heard the news. Parents immediately started picking up my classmates from school. I remember the fear that I felt, a fear that no child should have to experience but many of us did that day. 

As an 8 year old, because of my own feelings and things I was hearing from adults around me, I was afraid:

• I was afraid for my dad, who’s ship turned around and headed to the war zone. 
• I was afraid because the Pentagon was a building that my dad worked in all the time and continued to work in for years.
• I was afraid because the city of Norfolk holds the largest Naval base in the world. People were afraid that the terrorists were coming to Norfolk next. 

That’s a lot of big things to be scared of as an 8 year old, and I probably cried myself to sleep every night until my dad got home. 

I don’t remember the timeline exactly. But we eventually found out that there would be no Tiger Cruise. The ship my dad was wasn’t coming home yet because they were helping defend our country from terrorism. All I knew was that it meant my dad was near a dangerous part of the world, and he wasn’t coming home yet. According to some articles I’ve found online, the ship came back only 2 weeks later than scheduled. But those two weeks felt like an eternity given the circumstances. 

I remember waiting for him to get off that ship, again, it felt like an eternity. After 6 and a half months, my dad was finally home and he was safe. When we got home, he pulled out some gifts that he got for my mom, brother, and I when the ship made some stops. My two favorite things he bought me were a beautiful music box and a pair of pearl earrings. 

At the time, the pearl earrings were kind of funny to me. What 8 year old wears pearls? But I treasured them because they were my reminder that my dad made it back home. I wore those earrings a lot as I got older. We had to wear pearl earrings for choir, so I wore them frequently in high school. I also grew to love the gold and pearl combo that I didn’t appreciate as a child. 

To this day though, I can’t wear those earrings without being grateful. Grateful that my dad made it home safely from that deployment and every deployment after. Grateful for all of the military and their defense of our country. Grateful for TSA employees who try their best to help airports be safe. The list could go on and on. 

While my fear did not diminish for a while, having my dad home and safe definitely brought peace. Those pearl earrings serve as that reminder of comfort and peace that my dad brought in a time of extreme fear.