Paisley Geode

Day 78: After my father passed away when I was still very young, my mother struggled to make ends meet and seldom succeeded. She took in laundry or did other housework, but we had little budget for food, let alone for frivolities. Christmas and my birthday were scant, although she always attempted to find something for me to enjoy rather than merely purchasing some necessity like clothing.

One of her regular employers had a lapidary shop and, like most kids would be, I was fascinated by the extraordinary rocks and minerals on the shelves, but of all the showy specimens on display, one geode ("thunderegg") attracted me most of all. I loved paisleys, and where it had been sliced, the saw had passed through a nodule of drusy pale amethyst, revealing a distinct paisley shape in the cut. Another similar specimen sat beside it, and both bore pricetags which even as a child I knew were out of my mother's reach.

I drooled over garnets and fool's gold crystals, I pawed through slices of agate and jasper each time my mother dropped off freshly pressed shirts at the shop, always returning to the shelf where the two geodes rested. As my 11th birthday approached, my mom asked me what I'd like. Only one thing sprang to mind: the paisley geode.

I remember distinctly that it was the cheaper of the two, and that my mother told me I could have the more expensive, larger one if I really wanted it. I declined in favor of the paisley. My mom passed $3.50 across the counter and the paisley geode was mine. As I think back now, that was one of the best birthdays ever.