Turning The Claddagh

Image courtesy Irish Gifts Online


The Irish have this beautiful tradition of The Claddagh. The ring has many stories behind it, but essentially the band with the hands, heart and crown is a symbol of love and devotion.

The hands symbolize friendship, the heart love, and the crown serves as an emblem for loyalty.
The wearer is supposed to receive it as a gift from someone Irish who loves them. I got mine from my father when I was ten, and have been wearing it for about 14 years now. The legend says that if you wear it with the crown pointed towards you, it stands as a symbol of your singleness, but if the wearer shows the crown pointed out towards the tips of the fingers, it means the wearer is taken.

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For several years I've been whining and bellyaching about my singleness. I was always been the ninth dinner party guest or one of those desperate women diving for the bouquet at the wedding reception. I've long lived the life of the neurotic single girl, until a theory I had about perfume started working.

Men have been crawling out of the woodwork ever since I got my Romance perfume. Lately I've been dating two men and fending off the advances of several others; it's been a reality of uncharted waters for Kate The Great.

The two men are both wonderful. One is a guy I met on Match.com in what feels like eons ago. We started our e-mail correspondence in September and the phone calls came in November. We had our first date Christmas week, and our second about two weeks ago. He's a wonderful guy who works in the media, so he has a vague understanding of what I do for a living. This man is about ten years older than me and I feel like he's been looking for a relationship for a very long time.

About three weeks ago I met another man. I was minding my own business enjoying friends at at my favorite Irish bar in Lexington. This guy also works in my industry as a reporter at the competition (gasp!) I asked a mutual friend to introduce us when he was at the bar... and we were inseparable for the rest of the night.

Things developed very quickly with this second guy. He was not slow in asking for a date, which I much appreciated as a move solidly confirming his interests. Our time together was not full of pregnant pauses and small talk... but more like sharing little vignettes of our past, what our respective families are like and (single people: grab your vomit bag here), golly gee, just about how much we *like* each other.

He and I have since had a talk about wanting to be exclusive. The day after that talk I turned my Claddagh for the first time in my life. Who knows, maybe I'm jumping the gun... but I really, really like him.

The best part is, I think he likes me, too.