So what did I do with jewelry I couldn't wear? I put it on my large-scale bride doll (a birthday gift from my grandmother). Still no one seemed to notice. So one day I set myself up in front of my parents in the living room and started playing with the doll, waving her around, the earrings flashing in the sun. Finally my dad noticed and reacted. "Where did you get those?" I immediately became mum and must have looked very guilty. The truth must have spilled out (I don't remember how, exactly) as the next thing I remember we were on our way to Woolworth's. My furious father parked the car and told my mother to take me inside and make me confess my crime to the store manager. She took my hand and we walked in, me crying all the way. We walked around the store, circling the displays a few times. I stopped crying, not sure exactly where we were going. As we neared the jewelry counter my mom asked me to hand over the earrings. I gave them to her and she quickly tossed them in a basket with other costume jewelry. She pulled me away and said, "Come on." We walked quickly toward the exit, my anxiety easing. As we got in the car my dad asked her if she took care of it. She answered yes. "Did you learn your lesson?" I nodded. That was the day I learned how cool my mom was.
