When my beloved dad underwent delicate and risky surgery several years ago, I brought my pearls and beads to keep me occupied during the many hours of sitting and worrying in the hospital waiting room. I worked on this for hours, counting tiny beads as I placed them in repeating patterns for each seemingly-random strand. Literally, as I placed the last bead on the last strand, the surgeon came into the room to tell us that dad had come through surgery with flying colors. The beads had done their magic (and so, of course, had the very gifted surgeon). Since then, I never go through an extended wait in a hospital without my beads. This necklace is the first in the "gets well" series, and I remember my dad - and his wonderful surgeon - every time I wear it.