This is the right hand of our baby girl.
She’s wearing two rings that are
special and significant in her life.
The ring on her middle finger is a Claddagh.
It’s a traditional Irish Ring.
Our kids are of Irish descent — on their father’s side.
That’s where their stubbornness comes from.
The Claddagh’s design features
two hands clasping a heart, surmounted by a crown.
These features correspond to the qualities of
love = the heart
friendship = the hands
loyalty = the crown
The expression which is associated with these symbols is:
“With my two hands I give you my heart
and crown it with my loyalty”
The way that a Claddagh ring is worn on the hand is usually intended to convey the wearer’s romantic availability, or lack thereof.
The ring is worn on the right hand with the heart facing outward to show that the wearer is not romantically linked but is looking for love.
When turned inwards (on the right hand), it is shown that the wearer is in a relationship, or their heart has been “captured”. Noting that the heart is pointing down the hand and into the veins which lead to the wearer’s heart.
The ring worn on the left hand with the heart facing outward shows the wearer is engaged.
Worn on the left hand with the heart turned inward indicates the wearer is married.
Baby Girl is wearing her Claddagh turned inwards on her right hand
because she is in a relationship — with Mike.
The ring on her right ring finger is a promise ring
not from Mike — from DIY Guy and I
We gave each of our girls a ring on their 13th birthday
When we gave the girls their ring, we also gave them a letter from us.
The letter included the following . .
First, that we wanted the ring to always remind them of the wonderful, special person they are.
Second, that we wanted the ring to remind them that they have something special to save for a future husband. We suggested they make a promise — a promise to wait until marriage for sex.
(We live in a world where people are so hungry for love that they will give their bodies completely to almost anyone, it seems. TV and movies make it seem okay and common place. We realized guys would probably ask for sex. That they would probably hear girls tell them it’s OK. We also knew that one day they may even feel so in love with a guy that they might be tempted to give in to sex.)
We wanted the ring to remind them that they are loved enough by their parents and God –that they don’t have to give themselves away just because someone asks. They know that their future husbands are important enough to save themselves for.
Third, we gave the rings to remind our girls that they are loved with no strings attached — just as our love will always be theirs. They don’t have to earn it. Our love isn’t based on their looks or behavior. We will never ask for it back. It will always be theirs. There is nothing they could do that would make us love them any less. They are a treasure to us and always will be. We wanted them to be reminded of our love each time they saw the ring on on their hands.
I sure didn’t intend to go into this much detail when I took that picture of our Baby Girl’s hand on Mike’s knee at a basketball game, but the words flowed….and maybe this has been WAY too much information to share on this blog….but I’ll take that chance.
Claddagh is pronounced: [klah-duh]