Apostle Bracelet - The Pause

Torphins, 1924. Margaret Law learned patience the year her mother became unwell. Days narrowed into careful sequences of tasks, broken only by tea taken at the kitchen table. Even when no visitors were expected, Margaret set the tray properly. The sugar tongs lay beside the bowl, small and dark, their two apostles facing away from one another. She came to think of them as marking time: one turned toward what had already happened, the other toward what still lay ahead. She lifted each cube slowly, listening to the soft clink against porcelain before returning to her duties. That pause, repeated daily, taught her restraint. When the tongs were later made into a bracelet, Margaret wore it during moments of doubt. The iron reminded her that character is formed quietly, by learning to move forward without rushing or retreating.