A NECKLACE FIT FOR A KING
One year ago today, I had a Meet & Greet with John Mayer in Boston. During that meeting, I gave him a gift that represented fans from all over the world: a necklace that I made for him five years ago, from beads that were donated by fans. It was difficult smuggling it in to my M&G, and I had to curtail my original plan because of warnings that John’s voice was tired that day and so we shouldn’t try to engage him in a lot of conversation. Nonetheless, I wore this necklace in to my M&G, because it was so special and I wanted to be the one to give it to him.
For the past year, I’ve been Monday-morning quarterbacking myself. When John said, “Are you giving it to me now?” - WHY didn’t I take it off and give it to him? WHY didn’t I ask him if I could put it on him, and have a M&G photo taken with him wearing it? When he said “I’ll Instagram it!” - WHY didn’t I understand that he meant NOW and not two weeks from now? I had not yet seen John Instagram anything live at his M&G’s, so it just didn’t click in my nervous brain that he meant NOW. I was highly cognizant of sparing his voice, and of not abusing the time allotted to me. I wanted to be respectful, and give him the gift without disrupting the progress of the M&G’s. But in retrospect, how I wish that I had handed it to him, there and then ... it would have been so meaningful, to me and to so many others.
So instead, a year later, here I am telling the world about this awesome necklace. Instead of trying to describe it to you, I’ll post the details of my interaction with John, followed by the letter that I included inside the box. The letter explains the origins of the necklace, better than I could now.
These pictures don’t do the necklace justice. In person, it sparkled and shone with each movement. I thought it was just amazing. It took me three or four months to gather all the beads, and then about eight more months to actually create the necklace.
I sure hope that John did finally get to see it close up, and read the letter. (God, please give me the power to be less clumsy and nervous at my next Meet & Greet!)
Transcript of my M&G, April 9, 2017 - Written right afterwards, so I wouldn’t forget it:
It was all a big blur, and after it was over I wondered if I’d even made any eye contact with him. I hope that I did.
Me: Hi, John!
JM: Hi, what’s your name? (we’re shaking hands)
Me: Donna Firsty.
JM: What is it?
Me: Donna Firsty. You retweeted me recently.
JM: What did you tweet?
Me: I tweeted…
(His arm around me, posed, smiled, photo snapped.)
Me: …that your new songs already feel like old friends.
JM: Oh yeah!! Now see, THAT was really smart, you stopped talking to take the photo. Very smart.
Me: (Giggled, then held up the necklace I was wearing) John, I made this necklace for you.
JM: You made that????
Me: Yes, it took me an entire year.
JM: It took you a YEAR????
Me: Yes, and it’s made from beads that were donated by your fans around the world.
JM: How did you get fans around the world to send them to you????
Me: Well, I run this little group of fans and we help The Isaac Foundation…
JM: And they sent you the beads to make a necklace for me???
Me: Well, they don’t exactly know about it yet, but they will. I’ve actually been trying to get it to you for about 4 years now. (I’m looking down at the necklace.)
JM: And are you giving it to me NOW???
Me: (Giggle) Yes!!!
JM: I’ll Instagram it!
Me: It’s really beautiful! (I was fondling it a little, I guess)
JM: Well, if you’ve been wearing it for 4 years, then you’re probably pretty attached to it by now.
Me: Oh no, no, I don’t ever wear it! It’s been in a box for 4 years, waiting for me to give it to you! I just wore it today, to give it to you!
JM: Oh!!!
(At this point I’m noticing that the M&G Coordinator / Photographer is looking upset, so I know that I have to move along.)
Me: I have a gift box out in my purse, with a letter explaining the entire necklace. If it’s okay, I can pack it back up for you and leave it with your staff.
JM: Please do! Let her do that, okay? (he says to staff) Thank you so much!
And just like that… it’s over.
I can’t remember if we shook hands again or what. Everything was so fast, and I don’t recall anything else. It all happened start to finish in less than a minute.
A gift to John, from the JM Fan Street Team <3 Handmade from beads donated by fans
The first formal products we started “selling,” in exchange for a donation to The Isaac Foundation, were my unique crystal sun catchers. Early in 2012, shortly after JMFST was “born,” I put out a call to JM fans to help me amass the materials needed to make these sun catchers. Fans from around the U.S. and in other parts of the world started sending in donations, and some of them were very personal. Mostly broken and/or unwanted jewelry, fans sent them along with handwritten messages, such as, “my grandmother recently passed away, and these items were found in her jewelry box.” Or, “this was my mother’s. She would want it to go to a great cause like The Isaac Foundation, if she were still alive.” Or, “this was sent in memory of my best friend, who died last year.” Or, “my husband gave this to me years ago.” As their donations slowly rolled in, I started making sun catchers and selling them, one by one. Many times, I had to double check with the sender first, to make sure that they wanted to part with such a sentimental item. Some fans sent new beads that had special meaning to them, and they included an explanation of the healing or spiritual properties of the jade, amber, onyx, amethyst, jasper, or other gemstone they had sent. One fan sent a broken, vintage Trifari necklace; another sent a broken, vintage sterling silver squash blossom necklace. The donations were all amazing.
The more these donations came to me and I examined each one, I saw that there were usually several very special beads in every donation, if not at least one exceptional one. Many of the jewelry pieces were vintage, and most of them had been treasured by someone at some point. It occurred to me that I could save the most special beads in each of the bead donations, and make a necklace for the man who had inspired our work. So, I got a large tin, marked it “JOHN,” and started putting aside the best and most special beads of every donation that came in. After several months, I had quite the collection and decided to begin working on the necklace that I had in mind.
Eight months in the making, the necklace started to take shape while additional bead donations kept coming in. The result that you have received today has been finished and waiting to be given to you since 2013, but it’s been kept secret and only a handful of JMFST members have known about it. The fans who donated the beads do not know that part of what they donated was made into a necklace for you, but they will be excited to hear about it. They will be touched that a part of them, their mother, their grandmother, their spouse, or their friend is now with you. In wearing it, you will be carrying the energy of fans who adore you, living all over North America, Europe, the U.K., Turkey, and South America. On the very day that your necklace was finished, our JMFST member in Turkey sustained a work accident and cut off her right thumb. The subsequent months were difficult for her, but she took great comfort in knowing that you might someday wear the beads she donated. The light/dark brown beads with squares and flowers that you see throughout the necklace are from her, as are the tiny tan ones with a dark brown swirl. (She has since rehabbed from her injury, and will be getting married this summer!)
Your necklace is hand-strung on blue nylon-coated stainless wire that is aptly called, “Montana.” (It’s also the wire most often used to make my sun catchers.) Every time I worked on the necklace, I secured it with a crimp bead when I was done with the work session, and then when I picked it up again to resume working, I left the crimp bead fastened where it was. If there ever comes a time where the necklace pulls out from the finish work, not more than a small handful of beads will fall off. It’s unlikely that the necklace would ever break from any other spot, being strung on wire. It was purposely made this way to minimize spillage in the event of a break.
It’s my great honor to give you this necklace today, representing our worldwide JMFST group. It is, in fact, a gift from and representing all of us. Please reach out to JMFST if you ever need repairs on your necklace. We’re easy to find on social media, and Andy McFadyen always knows how to reach us by phone or text.
Have a great tour, John! Stay safe! <3 Donna “Firsty” & the JM Fan Street Team
The necklace was in a recycled gift box, decorated with a handcrafted card made by a member of our team (from strips of recycled greeting cards woven together). I originally had another letter to include that described the JMFST’s fundraising activities and how we came about, as well as a few other gifts... but I had to eliminate all of those as I found out the details of the M&G process. Knowing that my time and opportunity were limited, I had to edit it down to the most important things.
I also included in the necklace’s gift box a little vintage tie clip that I found on eBay, with “JM” on it. I never got to tell him about it, because I forgot all about it in my nervousness. As I was packaging up the necklace to give to security, I remembered that it was in my pocket, so I tossed it in.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this. I know that I waited much too long to share it with you. Maybe someday John will let us know that he did receive it...or even better, show us a pic of him wearing it. Would so love to see it on him!
Whenever I’d look at this necklace (both as I was making it, and when it was finished), the only thought that would come into my head was that it was a necklace fit for a king. John IS a king, among men and among musicians. Among humans, no less.
It is an understatement to say it was a huge thrill to give it to him, in spite of the many mistakes I made. He was so sweet to me.
