Let Love And Friendship Reign Forever

From the time I was young, I have been fascinated by symbolism. My love for the symbolism of the Claddagh stems from seeing my mom's own Irish ring when I was very young. She didn't wear hers as a wedding ring, but her grandmother  had brought one back from a mission to Ireland that I remember my mom wearing on occasion. I remember my mom telling me that it was a special ring, and true to my character, I asked her why.

My mom explained that the heart, hands, and crown were symbols: that the heart represented love, the hands friendship, and the crown loyalty. As a thirteen-year-old, I remember telling my mom that I wanted a Claddagh ring as my wedding ring. "Love, friendship, and loyalty--what better characteristics to have in a marriage?" I asked. Years later, I wrote a research paper on this symbolism for a high school history class. Around the same time that I wrote this paper, my mom told me that she actually had two Claddagh rings, one with a garnet heart (her birthstone and the one I remember her wearing) and one made of sterling silver. She gave me the silver one, and I wore it religiously. One of my dearest friends took a trip to Ireland and brought me a bigger, more modern-looking one, and I wore it as well.

Enter Tyler. My first semester at college I met Tyler. We became fast friends and one afternoon, he asked me about the ring I always wore, the Claddagh ring from my mom. I explained how I loved the symbolism and what it meant. A few weeks later, we were dating, and I let him wear the ring from my friend. He didn't take it off until an hour before we were married. Our dating and courtship was a whirlwind, but I knew that I wanted to marry him less than a week after our first date.

It was obvious that we were headed towards marriage, and Tyler put out some feelers about rings and proposals. The only feedback I gave him was that I did not want to pick out my ring, and I wanted to be surprised when he proposed. True to Tyler's character, he did not disappoint. I was surprised and excited and thrilled when Tyler knelt outside the Provo, Utah Latter-day Saint Temple and asked me to be his wife. It was dark, and I didn't initially see the ring he put on my finger, I just knew that marrying him was right. When I did see the ring, I was surprised to note that I recognized it. It was my mom's Claddagh ring with the garnet heart setting. It was polished and sparkling, but I recognized it. The fact that he had chosen to give me a Claddagh ring confirmed to me that this was definitely the man of my dreams.

I've never been very good at visualizing exactly what I want, but I was happy with my mom's ring, and I loved it. A few weeks after we got engaged, we were visiting some of Tyler's family for Thanksgiving near Manti, Utah. One morning, we decided to go to the temple together. After we came out of the temple, we walked around the grounds, and Tyler surprised me again by presenting me with the ring in the picture at the top of this page. I was emotional as he explained that the heart was a ruby, his birthstone, and that I would always have his heart.

This has turned out to be kind of a long explanation, but the reason I have shared all of this is because of the name I chose for this blog. The slogan for the Claddagh ring is "Let Love and Friendship Reign Forever." Tyler and I plan to do just that, and I plan to share bits and pieces of our life and my thoughts through our journey.