The Case of The Missing Jade

While we were waiting to travel I ordered a necklace off Etsy with Chen Chen's Chinese name and her birthday that I would wear every day.

When we were in Guangzhou we went shopping with our guide one day and I purchased a small jade pendant that I added to the necklace.  The vendor we purchased it from was nice enough to add a finding to the top so I could hang it from my necklace.  It looked (notice the past tense here) like this although a little smaller...

I loved the sound that it made with the other pieces on my necklace and I loved that Chen Chen would look at it and it would start conversations about our trip.  I wore it every day.  Well a few weeks ago we were playing in the kitchen and then within a millisecond the following happened:  mouth open laughing, I bend over to pick her up, necklace gets caught on tooth in her open mouth and then I hear *snap!* and her eyes get as big as saucers.  I put her down and the first thought was "oh no, a tooth broke!" but as she stood there I saw a small glimpse of something green in her mouth.  As she looked at me I told her to let me look in her mouth but instead she closed it and *gulp* it was gone!  After ensuring she wasn't choking I called the pediatrician and they assured me that kids swallow things all the time and not to worry it would pass although it could take up to a week. Well, for a week I was diligent about looking for said jade but it never surfaced, well i'm sure it did but I missed it in my attempts to look for it during each potty trip.  

I looked on-line for another piece and of course they cost waaaaaay more than what I spent in Guangzhou :(  If anyone is reading this and is traveling soon I would be forever grateful if I could get another one.  If you have pearl and jade shopping scheduled with your guide let me know.  I still wear the necklace but I miss the pendant and the memories that came with it and I know Chen Chen would be thrilled to see another jade piece on it.

*Update...a family that is traveling soon is picking up a new pendant for me!  They are even adopting from the same CWI that Chen Chen is from!*

Comments

[Victoria]

Have you ever thought of checking out a local Chinatown? I know here in Toronto's Chinatown I've seen a ton of those pendants. I'm down there all the time, if you send me an email with the rough size of the jade I'd be happy to send you one. I also work in the jewellery industry so it should be easy for me to find something!
victoriamurray@rogers.com

[Patricia Roebuck]

Oh good!!! It means so much more coming from there! Poor thing...and YOU!