Arthur Pepper has had a routine since his wife passed away a year ago. The sixty-nine year old eats breakfast at the same time, wears the same outfit, watches the same television shows...but then something happens. Realizing that it is time to go through his wife’s possessions and donate her clothing to charity he sticks his hand into one of her boots and pulls out a heart shaped box with a heart shaped lock. Intrigued, and unable to resist a lock being a locksmith by training, Arthur picks the lock and opens the box. Inside he finds a beautiful charm bracelet he has never seen that doesn’t seem like something his wife would own. The elephant charm especially catches his eye and when he examines it he sees numbers. It appears to be a telephone number. Arthur decides to break routine and call the number, so begins his journey to discover what his wife’s life was like before they got married, and to discover things about himself along the way.
This was described to me at a workshop I was presenting at in one word: delightful. I couldn’t agree more. I’m not one for treacly tales, I have to admit I was a bit concerned, but this is not that at all. This is about a man questioning what he thought he knew about the woman he spent most of his life with as well as questioning what he plans on doing with the rest of his life. It’s about awakenings, acceptance and what matters in life. Everyone should be lucky enough find a charm bracelet, or any reason at all, to go on an adventure when they need to reconnect to the world.
