I wear love

So I have three bracelets I wear every day. I wear this charm bracelet my brother Jimmy got me, it's fake but he bought it for me when he was training with the British Special Forces. I wear a parachord bracelet that my brother Phil made me on his last deployment and this rubber bracelet from the 60th Anniversary of the town my daughter was born (where she was also the new years baby)...

Around my neck, I always wear the cross my Soldier bought me when he was home on R&R. It's an infinity cross, beautiful and white gold, which I prefer. I do have a cross I wear on special occasions though. It's a cross my Daddy brought be back from his deployment training in Italy. He bought a cross and went to Rome and had it blessed by two Cardinals. I am Catholic and my father is not, so having him do something so incredibly touching to honor my faith (when I confirmed) was beautiful, especially since he so rarely was home to be part of the ceremonies like that.Also around my neck are my Soldier's dogtags.

I also wear two rings. My promise ring, of course. And a ring that my best friend my whole life gave me eight years ago. He was a Marine and he died in the most honorable way. He died for us. I knew him from the time we were seven until his death. We hung out every summer, our families went camping together, our Dads were friends. I wear the ring on my right hand, middle finger. It's got a sapphire. It was my 18th birthday present, given a few months early, because he was being deployed. It's nothing fancy or really that beautiful. I remember at the time, I didn't wear it often. Then he died and it's context changed.

I carry my life with me. From my jewelry to what is in my purse. Inside my wallet are six pictures. Four of my kids, one of my father and then one of my brother, RJ. I also carry a guitar pick my brother Charlie gave me and a scarab my brother Brandon brought back from overseas. I try to carry something of theirs with me.

A psychologist might have their reasons, with clinical terms and all, but my reasons are simple as can be. I carry all this on me, with me, because I can't go home. My home is with me, wherever I am. I wear these things, these really inexpensive (for the most part) symbols of love. Of familial love, the love a brother has for a sister to pick her up something small from an airport just to show he'd been thinking about her, the love from a man to his 'girl' wanting her to wear his dogtags. It's love that I wear. That I carry. I carry these things and if a single one were to be lost, I'd be devastated not because of any worth, but because of what it means to me