A Texas Designer and Hotelier’s Collection of Glass Paperweights Reminds Her of Lives Past

My brother Lyndon gave me these Murano glass orbs to mark big occasions. He gave me the first one—with the millefiori pattern and small white stars—when I graduated from law school. It came new, in a box with a ribbon, and the presentation was beautiful. It’s more grown-up than the other two, which were bought secondhand. The blood-colored one was a gift for my 30th birthday, and the one with the "snakeskin" ribbon was when I moved back to Austin, Texas, from New York City.