302 Marbles
I know what I have given you…
I do not know what you have received.
Antonio Porchia
Ex-man gave me a Claddagh ring one Christmas when I was pregnant with our daughter. It was originally his silver ring that he had re-sized for me. His aunt gave him heck for not giving me a gold female version of the traditional Irish ring, but I preferred his chunkier male version.
The Claddagh ring has two hands clasping a heart topped by a crown. The hands symbolize friendship; the heart, love; the crown, loyalty. The ring is used as a token of friendship or as an engagement/wedding ring and the way the ring is worn denotes the wearer’s marital/relationship status:
1. For engagement - on the left hand with the point of the heart toward the fingertips
2. For marriage - on the left hand with the heart in reverse
3. For singles looking for love - on the right hand with the point of the heart toward the
fingertips
4. For those in a relationship whose heart is “taken” - on the right hand with the point of
4. For those in a relationship whose heart is “taken” - on the right hand with the point of
the heart toward the wrist
I always wore the ring on my left hand with the heart facing inwards denoting marriage, although at the time I thought that it meant that my heart was taken. In hindsight, the appropriate placement for the ring would have been on my right hand because in our dozen years together, we never quite made it to the altar.
I haven’t been wearing the ring since the breakup. The last time I went through my jewelry box, I knew there was no reason for me to hold on to it anymore. Today, I put it in a box and returned it to him. It was his ring originally and although he may never wear it again, it was time to give it back. This gesture was another step in the slow process of extricating ourselves from each other. I do not know how he received it but I do know that I felt lighter after I did it.
Breakups are all about extricating yourself from your ex, string by string. The definition of extricate is “to release from an entanglement or difficulty; to disengage.” Are there physical representations of the entanglement that you are still holding on to? Can you release one of these symbols of your connection?
I always wore the ring on my left hand with the heart facing inwards denoting marriage, although at the time I thought that it meant that my heart was taken. In hindsight, the appropriate placement for the ring would have been on my right hand because in our dozen years together, we never quite made it to the altar.
I haven’t been wearing the ring since the breakup. The last time I went through my jewelry box, I knew there was no reason for me to hold on to it anymore. Today, I put it in a box and returned it to him. It was his ring originally and although he may never wear it again, it was time to give it back. This gesture was another step in the slow process of extricating ourselves from each other. I do not know how he received it but I do know that I felt lighter after I did it.
Breakups are all about extricating yourself from your ex, string by string. The definition of extricate is “to release from an entanglement or difficulty; to disengage.” Are there physical representations of the entanglement that you are still holding on to? Can you release one of these symbols of your connection?
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