These Blackbirds Sang to Me – “All Your Life, You Were Only Waiting for This Moment to Arrive”

In any city in the world I have visited that has a Les Néréides store, I have gone out of my way to check it out. And these blackbirds sang to me immediately.

It is like a magnet; I just know I am going to find something new, and seeing the jewelry up close is magical for me. Truly, I am obsessed.

It is exciting to wait for each new collection – I never know what color the ballerina’s new tutu will be, which girl will fall in love (and where) or which animal kingdom they will capture and launch next. Yet, not everything they do is to my taste. 

But when I do find something meaningful, something indescribable happens to me when I put it on. It makes me smile. I feel happy.

No matter how basic or ornate the clothing I wear, their pieces bring life to the outfit. Besides, they always lead to a conversation and an opportunity for me to share why it resonated with me.

The first thing I do before buying Les Néréides jewelry is ask myself … does it tell a story?

These Blackbirds Sang to Me, and Loudly!

One if my most precious finds is a pair of blackbird earrings. Two baby blackbirds are perched on a twig, on one earring the momma bird is collecting food, on the other, she is feeding it to the baby birds. And the story this represented to me was symbolic of my first year in Brazil.

After 10 years of owning licensing companies and having been a mother for six of those years, I had lost touch with my values. It was something that only my closest friends and my husband saw happen, and something that I was never able to openly admit.

After all, I was living my dream, and for a long time, I was really happy … until I wasn’t.

Goodbye to My Career

Leaving my career, leaving my home, leaving my country and leaving my friends felt brave, even if it was extreme. Those who know me well understand that I like to just get things done.

So making this major break with my career seemed efficient — I wanted to connect to my family, and I wanted to leave all distractions behind. It was the only way for me to actually do this. So, that is exactly what we did.

The first year was the hardest, as it often is. One of my biggest disappointments was how much my daughter disliked being around me.

I felt it in every tantrum and every look she gave me, and while it broke my heart, it confirmed the decision I had made to leave my career behind – at least for the moment. I was in the right place and just in time.

When my husband and I decided to have a family, I felt that I was meant to have a girl. Which is why the moment she arrived; my husband looked at me with tears in his eyes because he knew this was the missing piece in my life.

And truly, it immediately felt like my life was complete. But because of the focus I was putting on my career, it wasn’t until four years later that I was able to finally get to know my daughter, and by then she wanted nothing to do with me.

Settling into Brazilian Life

My son was settled in his American school and had friends almost immediately, so his English came quickly. In the meantime, my daughter felt stuck at home with me.

When I finally found her an international preschool, she was miserable. Her English was still quite poor, and her Portuguese was non-existent. She was the first international child at the school, which made her the teacher’s favorite, but gave her little opportunity to connect with other kids, all of whom spoke only Portuguese.

We got through it, one day at a time. After a while, she realized that I was there for her, and she began to open up to me. Both kids recognized that I was ready and excited to focus more on the family for the first time since they were born. Personally, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I had learned to appreciate a life where my focus was more on my family and not only my career.

Embracing Motherhood

When I first saw these earrings, I felt they encapsulated that first year in Brazil for me, and when I first put them on, they grounded me in my decision to make a major life change.

Nowadays, I wear them mostly when I am working. They are a wonderful tribute to both of my lovely children, and to our relationship. And because the earrings seem to come up in conversation with anyone seeing them for the first time, I have an opportunity to share my pride in being a mom and having the chance to connect with my kids before it was too late.

I will never tire of collecting stories that reflect the meaningful pieces of my wardrobe and lead to lasting memories. You can read about other Les Néréides pieces in my collection here.

Have a closer look at some of Les Néréides’ bird-themed jewelry here.