Green with envy

I may have mentioned before that on 31 October 2003, in the great Yarralumla heist, I was relieved of all my jewellery. This ranged from the fabulous diamond earrings I received in the wake of an infidelity to the macaroni necklace my daughter made me when she was 4. My wedding ring, engagement ring and eternity ring were among the stolen items. As was my daughter's charm bracelet with a cute lobster in a lobster pot I brought her from Boston and a minature replica of the Mary Rose from Portsmouth. And my mother's gold watch bought for her by my father in Glasgow in 1973. And the amber and silver ring I bought her for her birthday from Liberty's; she chose it herself and I kept it after she died. And the charming necklace that I bought for myself in Liberty's with coloured glass and enamel hearts that every child wanted to play with whenever I wore it. And the sapphire and diamond earrings I bought in the gold souk in Tripoli; they were so heavy they hurt my ears but I would wear them every Christmas. The vile insurance company has finally settled. It's very odd to be spending your way through a large amount of money like this. There was no option to take cash and do something useful like pay a lump off my mortgage. So I've been spending it with a tinge of guilt. My engagement and eternity rings were diamonds and emeralds. I loved them. When I split up from my husband, a jeweller asked me if I'd like them remade into something else but I said no since I didn't want to erase the past and thought that one day I'd give them to my daughters. So I was sad that they were stolen. And I really love emeralds. Today I bought a new diamond and emerald ring. So this ring acknowledges the past but it was chosen all by me, and worn by me for me. All the women in my office have admired it greatly. I can't describe how beautiful it looks - and I do not have beautiful hands or a flawless manicure (or any manicure for that matter). My friend, P, said "oh my, that's a MegaCorp women exec ring" since we have a non-scientific survey going of senior women in our company and the size of the diamonds they wear. Except I have a stunning emerald ring. Nah, nah, nah. I didn't have to struggle up the corporate ladder to get this one. I was robbed.