I have claimed in the past that I have no family heirlooms.  I guess whether or not that is true depends on what one considers an heirloom to be.  I don’t have an object that represents my heritage or culture and has been passed down for generations.  I think a reason for this lack of cultural object has to do with the fact that no one in my family has immigrated here recently,  my parents, grandparents, and even some of my great grandparents were born in the United States.

However, I came to the realization recently that I have a ring that was given to me by my grandmother.  She received that ring from her grandmother. I am the oldest granddaughter on my dad’s side of the family, for this reason, I was the recipient of a small, golden ring with two diamond shaped gems, one clear and one red.  This ring is the right size for a relatively thin pinky or a eight year old girl’s finger. Luckily, I was eight when I was given this ring, and currently, it still fits on my pinky finger.

I received this ring for the religious sacrament know as Communion in the Catholic religion.  Unlike a cross to a baptism or a ring to a marriage, a ring holds no relevance to the ceremony of Communion.  However, this ring became something of a religious symbol, as my grandmother also received it as a Communion gift.

Unlike the necklace from my grandmother I wrote about in my last post, which I wear every day, I have never worn this ring.  However, I always make sure that I know where it is. I am very nervous about losing this ring. My fear changes the function of it from being a piece of jewelry meant to be worn, to a memento of a religious sacrament and of my grandmother.  I would like to make this ring an heirloom for my family in the future, something to be passed down through generations to come. I do not know if the ring will continue to be passed down for one’s Communion, but my hopes are mainly just for it to be passed down in general.

I know little about the origins of the ring.  I know that it was purchased as a gift for my grandmother, and not originally owned by her grandmother.  My grandma received Communion when she was eight, sometime in the 1950’s. Meaning that the ring was purchased around this time.  My grandma then kept that ring with her all throughout her childhood and adult life. She decided to hand it down not to her daughter, but to her granddaughter.  After receiving this ring, I immediately gave it to my own mom to hold onto for me until I grew older. Around age seventeen, my mom and I were going through the jewelry in her closet and we found the ring.  She told me how I had received it and returned it to my custody, nearly ten years later. From then on, I kept the ring in the box in which it was given to me, which was not the original box. I bring the ring with me to wherever I reside at the time.  There it remains, unworn, in a box.