Family Heirlooms

Yesterday was an incredibly special day - I will remember it forever, no doubt.

I've never really understood family heirlooms - the idea of having something that belonged to a parent or a grandparent. Like, I remember when my grandma Jean died. My dad asked if there was anything I wanted - maybe something that would remind me of her. I didn't want anything. The only thing I needed was the novels of memories I had of her. All of the sleepovers at her house with late nights playing cards and 'court' and specialty pancakes in the morning. I remember the nutcracker and the annual outing to Lagoon. I remember her parties and her spunk. I didn't need anything of hers - she gave me so many memories that would make it impossible to forget her.

But my moms wedding ring! I have loved and admired that thing since I was little. She has told me throughout the years that I would get it when she dies - mostly because none of my siblings made a big deal out of it and I've gushed about it many times. I would talk about it with friends and I tried to draw a picture of it for an assignment in elementary school. And the thing is, I don't particularly like jewelry. And my moms ring is far from my style!

So - to put it mildly I was shocked when my mom gave me her ring a couple months ago. She gave it to me when Erin and I went to Utah for Memorial Day. We went with a group of friends to Moab and made a stop at home for a couple nights. It was uncomfortable to accept. She's told me I would get it after she died - but mom insisted and told me over and over that she doesn't wear it anymore because her hands hurt, sometimes get swollen and sometimes reacts to jewelry. She told me that she's starting to give some of her things away and that it was important to her to give me the ring. 

I brought the ring back to to Seattle and spent a lot of time looking at it wondering what I was going to do with it. And then I decided. With moms approval, I decided I was going to make two rings with it, one for me and one for Erin - a Mothers Ring for both of us in preparation for Poppy's arrival. 

With the help of a trusted jeweler, we decided to remove the diamond to put on another band for Erin and to make a few alterations to the original band for me.  I received the call from the jeweler yesterday that they were finished and ready to pick up. I felt nervous driving to get them. 

It didn't take more than a few seconds after laying eyes on them to have a most prized physical possession. 

When I put on my new ring I felt strong. When I tried on the ring for Erin I became giddy thinking of her reaction. When I looked at them side by side and imagined us both wearing them holding our Poppy I completely broke down - right there in the store.

My mom wore her wedding ring as she cared for me as a baby - and as she cared for my siblings. She wore it as she dug in the dirt making our yard beautiful, as she trained for and ran all of her marathons and as she filled our home with music on the piano. She wore it as she taught me how to love myself, care for others and how to work hard. She wore this ring as she wiped away my tears when I came out to her. I remember mentioning (for maybe the millionth time) how much I loved her ring during that conversation. She wore the ring for longer than I've been alive and now I get to wear it. 

My mom is my hero - despite everything. She seems to have magical powers. Somehow, even though she at times worked 5 jobs (at once), found ways to teach me and my siblings to love and like each other, how to serve by serving others herself, the importance of taking care of yourself and the importance of appreciating nature by training and running marathons - there is nothing my mom couldn't do. And now she is sick. She's been sick for 10+ years. She's tired and she hopes her time here is coming to an end. I can't blame her although the thought of her not being here is really hard.

But, for some reason, having her ring makes it a little easier. I have something that was with her as she did everything for me! And I get to wear it I attempt to do everything for Poppy. 

And I have to mention, Erin's reaction was so sweet. I wrote a letter expressing the significance of the rings and we cried together as we looked at them on our fingers. We have felt ready to care for Poppy but for whatever reason we feel more ready and better equipped. :) I am so eager to see my moms diamond on my wife as she cares for our baby girl - and maybe we will pass the family heirloom to her someday.

The original ring

I have the band and Erin has the diamond

Oh, and today starts week 26! Poppy's eyes are opening this week and her adult tooth buds are developing.