Margie and I were going to have them done at a town jeweler across from the market plaza. But each time we set a date, something came up and she was unable to go. I began to think she was chickening out on me. Overanxious on April Fool's Day, I had a plan.

Do you remember your first pair of earrings?

The first tiny 14k gold studs were quickly stapled into my lobes. It was uneventful and didn't hurt at all, taking all of five minutes, if that long. Racing home, I showed my mom first, then skipped down the block to her house. After a minute or two, Margie lit up with a sly smile. She confidently mocked, Ha, ha, April Fools, Sonya! But when she touched my ear, she sunk back in her seat. Look who's laughing now.

Adorning the ear is an ancient tradition, trace beginnings chiefly as male ornamentation, popular in Western Asia. Assyrians and Egyptians used earrings to indicate affiliation to royalty. Hoops and pendants of gold and earthenware were molded by the ancient Persians, who added precious stones and gems to the mix.

The 1920's brought the invention of the clip-on earring and longer, heavy incarnations were the rage. In the 1950's, at-home ear piercings became increasingly common. With just a thin needle, alcohol, and a lot of gumption, my mother pierced her own ears. 

The vast variety of styles today - studs, hoops, chandeliers, dangles, bar bells, spikes, huggies, ear threads - incorporate a comparable range of materials from rubber and plastic to glass and leather. In many cultures, baby's lobes are pierced well before they can walk. Modern day individuals flow with any trend du jour, continually changing the rule book when deciding what, how and where they want to display earrings of choice.

Margie eventually had her ears pierced later that summer. I added my second set with Brenna's first just before her Holy Communion celebration, as she vowed to wear pearl studs with her dress. Curiously, that second time around for me was painful. As my earlobes turned fire engine red, though concealing the urgent throbs was a feat, I successfully managed to hold her hand reassuring her decision that day to sport her very first ear candy. xoxo-Sonya