{"id":1854,"date":"2014-11-25T17:52:32","date_gmt":"2014-11-26T01:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=1854"},"modified":"2019-04-27T09:55:40","modified_gmt":"2019-04-27T16:55:40","slug":"what-does-a-ring-say-about-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/what-does-a-ring-say-about-love\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does A Ring Say About Love?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Does A Ring Say About Love? That popped into my head this morning, as I thought about how my story, A Cry From The Deep<\/a><\/strong>\"\"\u00a0, came to involve a ring of such significance. I can\u2019t remember how I came up with the idea of having an antique Claddagh wedding ring play such a major role. \u00a0A ring linking one woman from the distant past with a woman in the present.<\/p>\n

\"claddagh<\/a>The Claddagh Ring<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0symbolizes \u201clove and friendship\u201d.\u00a0 A wedding ring is a concrete promise of commitment\u2026till death do us part. Eternity\u2026a beginning without an end. Everlasting love.<\/p>\n

Wikipedia states that it\u2019s \u201cwidely believed that the first examples of wedding rings were found in ancient Egypt.\u201d Back then, about 3000 years ago, rings were made by braiding hemp or reeds and then exchanged by the bride and groom. The circle was the symbol of eternity, and the ring a sign of never-ending love between the couple.<\/p>\n

In my novel, I talk about a promise that would not die. A ring from Ireland symbolizes that promise. I wonder if you have a ring that has special meaning, one that you will carry to the end of your life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ponte

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy<\/p><\/div>\n

I was married with one ring, a simple white gold band, and then later when my husband and I were backpacking through Europe with our children, fifteen years later, we found another on the Ponte Vecchio<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>in Florence, Italy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We saw this artisan carving 18K gold rings and they were so beautiful that we bought matching ones.<\/p>\n

\"weddingI treasure it but notice, because of the softness of the gold, the design is wearing with time, much as I am.<\/p>\n

I remember my mother talking about her ring, the one she got from my father in the dirty thirties<\/em>, the depression that hit North America like a knockout punch. She said, \u201cmy diamond is so puny.\u201d I think this was after she had admired my mother-in-law\u2019s that was a karat and a half. Jealousy had reared its ugly head. My mother\u2019s ring was indeed tiny, but was it really that important how big her diamond was, or was it more important that it was the symbol of my father\u2019s love for her? It was all he could afford.<\/p>\n

In my story, the ring has its own journey. Do any of your rings have stories to tell?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Does A Ring Say About Love? That popped into my head this morning, as I thought about how my story, A Cry From The Deep\u00a0, came to involve a… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[744,88,4],"tags":[609,652,78,665,648,9,666],"class_list":["post-1854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-life","category-writing","tag-a-cry-from-the-deep","tag-claddagh-ring","tag-diana-stevan","tag-everlasting-love","tag-ireland","tag-novel","tag-ponte-vecchio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/claddagh-ring.jpg?fit=288%2C175&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-tU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6505,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2024\/books\/celebrating-a-cry-from-the-deep-with-a-sale-on-its-10th-anniversary\/","url_meta":{"origin":1854,"position":0},"title":"Celebrating ‘A Cry from the Deep’ with a Sale on its 10th Anniversary","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"9 \u0416\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"My Debut Book Launch It was a dark and stormy night\u00a0in October, 2014, when I launched A Cry from the Deep, my debut novel, at the local library in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. 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Okay, so I\u2019m excited. What I need are some fireworks, a parade, and a paper bag over my head to\u00a0keep me from smiling non-stop. Yesterday, two boxes of books arrived. Some are gifts, others for Coho Books, an independent book store in town and others still\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_6374","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/IMG_6374-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6683,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2025\/books\/an-enduring-love-story-for-valentines-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":1854,"position":2},"title":"An Enduring Love Story for Valentine’s Day","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"17 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"To celebrate the upcoming launch of Along Came A Gardener, I'm offering a Special Sale of my debut novel, A Cry from the Deep, an enduring love story for Valentine's Day. 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