Pleasant Surprises

Today, I found something that I thought was lost forever. It's a claddagh ring I bought in Ireland about 3 months before I met Greg. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the claddagh ring, it is a traditional Irish ring which represents love, loyalty, and friendship. When the bottom part of the heart (the "point) is facing out toward the fingertips, the person wearing the ring is single. When the point is facing inward toward the wrist, or the heart, the person wearing the ring is taken.

When Greg and I became "official", we were sitting at a McCormick & Schmicks in Bethesda, and he reached across the table, held my hands tightly, took off the ring and put it back on with the the "point" toward my heart. He wanted the world to know that I was taken. I still remember that moment so vividly. And I've told Greg several times, I knew even before that moment that I was already taken, for life.

This ring is very special to us, and it holds a lot of meaning. Of course, it's not the ring itself that holds the meaning, but rather the actions, thoughts, emotions, and value we put into it. So when I thought I lost it back in December, I was pretty darn sad. But I also knew that all of those memories were still ours to keep. 

Finding it was almost like finding $20 in a winter jacket from last year, or discovering I still have more of my latte left when I thought I'd drank it all. A pleasant and very welcome surprise. However, it also reminded me, at a much needed time, that we are the ones that hold meaning, not things. While I must do my best to be a good steward of the tangible things I am given, it is important to place my value in God, in relationships, and in the intangible things that really matter. Because, as I've been taught since I was a little tike, "you can't take it with you".