1) I didn't expect her to put it on before I left

I half expected her to say thank you and set it down. She didn't. She opened the box, held it up, watched it transform from clover to hearts right there in her fingers. She put it on standing in the kitchen.

She was still wearing it when I drove home.

2) I didn't expect her to text me because of it

Three days later she sent me a photo. The clover side up. No words. I didn't know what to say so I sent back a clover emoji.

She sent hearts the next morning. I sent "I'm right here sweetheart."

We've done it every morning since. I've talked to her more in the last six weeks than in the last two years.

3) I didn't expect to cry in a car park

She sent me a voice note one afternoon. Walking between lessons. She said "I flipped it to clover before my exam, Nan. It worked."

I was sitting in my car outside Waitrose. I sat there for ten minutes. I didn't go in.

4) I didn't expect her friends to ask about me

One of Emma's friends saw it and asked where she got it. She said "my Nan picked it for me." The friend said she wished her grandmother did things like that.

I don't know why that hit me so hard. I've spent years feeling like I was on the outside of her world. Turns out I was in it. I just didn't know.

5) I didn't expect them to wear it to the things that matter

Emma texted me the morning of her uni interview. "Clover side Nan. Wish me luck."

I didn't realise until later she'd been doing it before everything that mattered. Exams. Presentations. The days she didn't want to talk about. Just a photo. Clover side up. Like checking in before she walked into something hard.

Mia did the same before her first day at a new school. I hadn't told her that's what Emma did. She just knew.

6) I didn't expect to stop dreading the quiet

I used to hate Sunday mornings. The house too still. The phone not ringing.

I don't notice it anymore.

I'm too busy waiting to see which side my granddaughters pick.

7) I didn't expect to buy it for everyone

I went to the shop thinking I'd get one for Emma. That was the plan.

I bought three. One for Emma, one for Mia, one for my daughter.

I hadn't planned it. I just couldn't imagine giving Emma something that meaningful and leaving the other two out. It would have felt wrong.

Turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

8) I didn't expect it to last

I half expected it to last a few weeks before ending up in a drawer.

My granddaughters have been wearing them for eight months now. Showered in them, slept in them, worn them to parties and to school the next morning.

9) I didn't expect myself to matter so much to my granddaughters

For years I gave my granddaughters birthday money and gift cards. Practical. Safe. I told myself that's what they wanted.

What I was actually afraid of was that I didn't matter to my granddaughters.

I know I matter now. They tell me every morning.

10) I didn't expect myself to feel this way about Tuesdays

I used to send birthday money. Gift cards. The practical grandmother who didn't make things complicated.

I kept thinking I had time to do something more meaningful. That there was always a next birthday, a next Christmas, a next occasion.

I've realised how many Tuesdays I already let pass.

I got the necklaces from a place called Hello Arlo at www.hello-arlo-gb.com

I wish I'd found it sooner. That's all