My Mother-in-Law Gave My Dowry Bracelet to My Sister-in-Law

I stared at the bright-green jade bracelet on Anna's wrist, my knuckles white where my fingers dug in. It had come down through four generations as dowry, passed from my great-great-grandmother, always to the eldest daughter. On my wedding day my mother slid it onto my wrist with her own hands, fingers trembling as she fastened the clasp, and told me it was my backing in the Dickerson family. Even if I was ever wronged, she said, I could sell it and hold on for a while. Jade nourishes the one who wears it. The bracelet had passed through several generations, its glow soft and warm, like a pool of spring water just parted at the surface.