Transmissions, Teeth and Tourmaline

Posted by Leona Bergstrom

This week Richard and I celebrate our 38th anniversary. I think anniversaries are always significant milestones because every year is marked with new shared experiences. This has been a great year. Together we’ve experienced the high rough seas of the Caribbean, climbed the Kalalau Trail (well, part of it) in Kauai,eaten lobster on the Connecticut coast and prayed in an ancient Moldovan monastery. We’ve welcomed a new grandson to the world, and watched as all three boys learned new skills, words and other charms. We’ve said goodbye to loved ones. We’ve had a combined total of seven colds.

Life is filled with the extraordinary and the simple. That’s why we’re okay with what our anniversary gifts are this year. Richard gets a new transmission in his van and I get a new shiny gold crown for my tooth. Yes, it’s one of those stretches where things seem to fall apart. Expensive things! But after 38 years, it’s okay. You go with the flow, as they say, and thank the Lord that you still have transportation as well as your own teeth.

The symbol for the 38th anniversary is tourmaline. Being unfamiliar with that gemstone I of course, googled it.

I discovered it is a gem that comes in a variety of colors and is known for its tendency to change hues whether in daylight or artificial light. According to the International Colored Gemstone Association, “the gemstone has an endless number of faces, and for that reason it suits all moods. It is a gemstone of love and friendship, and is said to render them firm and long-lasting. Egyptian legend has it that the tourmaline, on its long journey up from the centre of the Earth, passed over a rainbow. In doing so, it assumed the colors of the rainbow and that is why it is still referred to as the ‘gemstone of the rainbow’ today.”

Transmissions and teeth – the everyday experiences of a long and maturing marriage. Tourmaline – what a perfect symbol for years of experiences that reflect color, variety and the rainbows of our life. Thirty-eight years and we are beginning to see the whole spectrum! I delight in our marriage, and like the tourmaline, it is full of love and friendship that is firm and long-lasting.