Apostle Bracelet - Quiet Endurance

King Street, 1931. Margaret Leslie kept a neat flat on King Street and a tidy face for the world, even when her thoughts weren’t tidy at all. The apostle tongs lay in a drawer lined with a tea towel, brought out for the moments that mattered: a visitor, a difficult letter, a day she needed to feel composed. The two small figures faced away from each other, and Margaret liked the honesty of it. One seemed to look back at what she’d survived without complaint; the other faced forward, as if refusing to let her shrink from what came next. When she made tea, the tongs felt cool and reassuring in her hand, their weight steady as the kettle hissed and the windowpane trembled with passing traffic. She listened to the soft click of metal against china and let it calm her breathing. When the tongs became a bracelet, she wore it under her sleeve—private, close, warming quickly against her skin. It reminded her that endurance is the quiet practice of being, and learning to love yourself.