In the late 90s, I wore a decent amount of jewelry and rings. I always had my zodiac necklace from Renaissance Books and Gifts on.
If you don't know about this place, it's been in Springfield for decades and is very similar to the bookstore in The Craft. Maybe I need to go back for old times' sake. 👻
Anyway, for whatever reason, I stopped wearing jewelry after high school—minus those chunky necklaces from Forever 21 that were popular in the mid-2000s. I have some embarrassing photos somewhere ...
Soon after my grandma, Ruth, passed away in 2013, my mom gave me her diamond cocktail ring. I felt so lucky to have it.
It was a beautiful ring that I remember her wearing all the time. My grandpa gave it to her in the 1960s, and he even had her name engraved (in Arabic) on the inside of the band.
I thought it looked way too fancy to wear. For years, I thought it could be a wedding ring if I married. Spoiler alert: I did not wear it as a wedding ring.
A few years ago, I said screw it and decided to wear it instead of looking at it in my jewelry holder every day.
Looking back, I'm not sure why I was so focused on it looking "too fancy, " especially since my grandma wore it, along with her wedding band, every single day. She wasn't the kind of woman who flaunted wealth or cared about fancy things, and I loved that about her.
I can picture it on her finger right now. She never made it look extra sparkly—it's a ring she wore when she made homemade dough, prepared Lebanese meals, and baked the best chocolate sheet cake on the planet. It was a part of her, and it was special.
I was equally close to my other grandma, Joanie. She was wonderful at decorating (and everything else, for that matter) and held onto many special things that were later handed down to me.
One of those special things was a unique pearl ring that my grandpa bought her in the 1980s. She gave it to me a couple of weeks before she passed away in 2022, and I cherish it so much. I wear it on my left ring finger every single day.
We wore the same ring size, which fit perfectly the first time I wore it. And just like my other grandma's ring, I remember her wearing it when I was little.
I wouldn't feel like myself if I didn't put their rings on every day, and they serve as a constant reminder of how lucky I am to have these amazing women in my life.
xoxo, Grandma Jacki