The Bracelet

This yet another book I borrowed from the library to read to my toddler. It is written by Yoshiko Uchida, and illustrated by Joanna Yardley. Again, my toddler probably does not understand all the content of the book, but when he gets older, he will.

Emi, her mother, and sister, were getting ready to leave their house, and be sent to a prison camp. The only wrong thing they had done was something they could not help - being Japanese-American. Her dad was already separated from them, and was sent to another prisoner-of-war camp.

While they were packing, Emi's best friend, Laurie Madison, called on her. They went to second grade together. Laurie looked as sad as Emi. She passsed Emi a bracelet. Emi put it on, and promised not to take it off.

The apartment at the prison camp assigned to Emi's family was actually a dirty horse stall. When they had set up their army cots, Emi discovered to her horror, that she had lost her bracelet. Emi's mom went with her to look for it. They could not find it. Emi was devastated to lose the only thing by which she could remember her friend!

The next day, Emi found her favorite red sweater, and suddenly recalled her first day of school. That day, both she and Laurie had worn matching sweaters. She also remembered what they did together after school. Emi realised the memory of her friend, her house, and her dad, lived inside her head. She did not need the bracelet to help her remember her best friend!

This story demonstrates the power and value of our memories. We do not need tangible things to remember friends, dear ones, events, or places. Nobody can rob us of our memories. We should treasure time spent with friends, or loved ones, because what we do together, will become our memories of the future, which will be especially precious, when parting occurs.