Color, cut, clarity, brilliance and blessings

I have a friend that has the best diamond earrings. So good, In fact, that once when we went to dinner, I almost didn't hear anything she said because the color, clarity, cut and brilliance of those damned diamonds was blinding me. I was mesmerized like a cat following the beam from a flashlight. 

I came home from the dinner and looked at my own diamond earrings. They seemed bright enough, but still hers seemed somehow brighter. I went on line and searched for ways to make my own earrings look bigger. No luck. Then I switched to searching for ways to upgrade my earrings to bigger, shinier ones, but I was interrupted by my children. They were fighting over dishes again.

A few week  later, I went out with my friends again, this time, she wore a fabulous diamond bracelet that might have been a tennis bracelet if the diamonds were half the size that they were. Each one of the stones was as big as the ones in my own diamond earrings. Again, I was mesmerized, came  home and tried to see if I could take all three of my tennis bracelets, melt them, combine them, and then reset the stones to make them more eye catching. My research was once again instead interrupted by my children, one needing money, the other homework assistance.

 The  next time I saw my friend, I couldn't take it. She was wearing her diamonds like I wore my Fitbit. I had to compliment her, tell her about the magnificence on her arm. 

She didn't reply with a thank you or a chuckle. Instead a sadness came over her. "These are heartbeat diamonds."

Well damn, I thought. Was heartbreak a new brand? What in the world had her husband done that was bad enough to warrant diamond the size of boulders yet they were still married?

When she told me, my heart broke, too. Her husband has bought her those diamonds when she lost her baby, the one thing they wanted more than anything in the world. My friend is childless. They had tried many times, but had been unable to have a child. 

Her diamonds no longer seem that bright.  Something about the look on her face made me feel small for covering her jewels the way I had. I thought about all of the things I could have if I didn't have kids. I realized I wanted none of them.

 My children are not perfect. They get on my nerves. The teens are selfish, the younger ones messy. My Lamborghini? It's in college. My birkin is taking ACT prep and my house in Barcelona just got her braces off.  

I pray for my friend and hope that she receives the blessings she wants, her own personal ball of energy to mess up her house, throw up all over her, keep her up at night and then grown up to steal her designer shoes. I also give thanks for being blessed--which I am by  just having my children in my life.

I cut my eyes at them when they act up, their sibling rivalry  adds color to my life, their actions bring clarity to my world--and watching them grow--pure brilliance. My children are my diamonds. Not upgradeable, and they certainly can't be reset, but still priceless.