heritage

My nana gave me my Claddagh ring when I was in the sixth grade. It is small and gold and remarkably like the one pictured above, only the features are much blurrier, due to the fact that I've worn my ring pretty much every single day since then. It's one of my most treasured possessions, and I literally go crazy whenever I lose it (which, compared to everything else I own, isn't actually all that often.) because my grandmother had it for years and years--it's far older than I am--and I would feel terrible if I was that one person who accidentally let a family ring get sucked down the kitchen sink or something.

I'm incredibly proud of my Irish heritage, and also proud to wear my grandmother's ring. She is an insanely tough woman, yet never fails to be generous and loving for more than three seconds. Her life has been littered with traumatic events but every time I see her she has a story and a smile and usually, a hot cup of tea (everybody says the Irish love their booze. Personally, I find the attraction to tea much stronger among my relatives).  I cherish my ring because it reminds me so much of her, and I want to keep it always to have as a souvenir when she's gone, because my nana is a person worth remembering.

I've made the recent decision to "retire" my beautiful little Claddagh on my sixteenth birthday, because if I keep wearing it, the features will be in jeopardy and the heart, hands and crown are the most important part, representing love, friendship and loyalty respectively. Oh, I'll get a new one, of course, and it'll become meaningful, just not quite as much. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep my nana's ring until I can pass it on. I've accepted the fact that my nana is going to die eventually, but for some reason, I cannot imagine her ring ceasing to exist.

PS. Don't make fun of the fact I call my grandmother "nana".

[photo from wikipedia]