Thursday, March 1, 2012

Too many rings?

I have a favorite ring these days.  It seems that my grandmother's birthstone is an every day item anymore.  I love this ring.  But as I drove into work yesterday I was fiddling with it and thought for a moment that as much as I love it, I've been neglecting my other rings. 

The engagement ring/wedding band combo are always part of the work get-up.  But my other rings float.  Lately I've worn my family ring with my daughters' birthstones in it.  Often it's on my left hand middle finger; I never had it sized down to fit any other finger.  And my grandmother's ring is on my right hand middle finger.  I can't quite make myself take it in to get it sized down because of my sentimental hang-up about keeping it the same size as my Nana wore.

This means that I have my husband's grandmother's engagement ring (tiny diamond in a pretty yellow and white gold setting) just hanging out in a jewelry box.  I also have three birthstone rings.   The first was given to me by my husband for my birthday the first year we dated; it is a marquise cut and sticks up a ways.  I stopped wearing it when babies came along because I was always scratching them with it.  The second was given to me for Mother's Day some 6 or 7 years ago.  It's a heart shaped setting with my birthstone and a diamond.  My daughter helped Daddy pick it out for me one day after school.  The third is my favorite cut--it is a special lighthouse cut and it is a bigger stone; it has a much more modern look to it and when it's all cleaned up, it's an attention grabber.

And then there are the other rings I brought into this marriage with me. . .my high school class ring and a blue pearl ring.  Hmmm, I think I have another pearl ring tucked away in a jewelry box too from when I was in elementary school.  Unfortunately, I lost my college ring; it slipped off my very slender/not at all swollen finger one day at work when I was about 34 weeks pregnant with my third child.  I think it slipped off when I dried my hands.  (Sad face!)

I can't see giving up wearing my grandmother's ring.  I can't say that we were very close.  But somehow this ring ties me back to another time in life. 

Still, I feel that my other rings are getting cheated.  How can I forgo my birthstone rings?  I do wonder if I could get away with my engagement/wedding rings and grandmother's ring on my left hand and my third birthstone and family ring on my right hand?  I wouldn't want to look like some stereotypical Gypsy woman. . .or like one of those little ladies in a nursing home who wears all of her jewelry because it's the only way she knows it will be safe.

How many rings are too many at one time?

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