This past month I’ve felt a profound sense of loss. It started at the end of a wonderful vacation in Paris when my laptop took a tragic, and fatal, tumble.

July brings hot heat and a fiery red gemstone – the precious ruby. Named the gemstone of the Sun, these sweltering red stones are a reminder of the warm, carefree months of summer.

The gem of desire, courage, passion and emotion – the ruby, considered a “precious” gemstone, has been coveted for centuries as Max Bauer wrote in 1894, “A clear, transparent, and faultless ruby of a uniform red color is at the present time the most valuable precious stone known.”