It's here! It's here! It's finally here!

Yesterday, my "long" awaited joy arrived exactly on schedule.

My morning started out somewhat sadly when I checked my mailbox only to be disheartened to find it empty. Little did I know, it was actually sent via UPS, not USPS. There was still hope.

On my lunch break at work, I nervously went home.

"This is a big deal," I thought to myself. "This ring finalizes my engagement. This ring is making history for me. This ring will most likely become a family heirloom. This ring symbolizes an eternal bond, love, and friendship with the man I am about to spend the rest of my life with."

So, I walked up the stairs of my apartment complex, forcing myself to look forward even when I got to the threshold where I could have easily turned my head back to see if there was in fact a little brown box waiting for me. I had to allow the excitement to saturate the moment, a moment I would allow to change my life.

With a bounce in my step, I rounded the corner and looked down...and there it was! A little brown box sat before my doorstep addressed to me, sweetly waiting for me to pick it up, and I beamed with joy! I bent down, grabbed that little box in my arms and burst through my door. I sat on the couch in my living room, breathing in the moment, feeling love permeate around me. All the while, in those few seconds, I saw a blurry future flash before my eyes, and the joy I was feeling bubbled over.

I started to pull at the corners of the tape, peeling them off in strips, one by one until the box could open, and it did just that. It popped open, as if it had been waiting to be near me as long as I had been waiting for it. There, in the middle of the box, in the midst of environmentally unsound foam popcorn, wrapped in two layers of bubble wrap was another box. This one was blue, and it was a familiar sight as I remembered getting Big T's ring in the mail weeks ago.

I pulled the bubble wrapped little box out of the popcorn mess and popcorn cascaded to the floor. I set the previously beloved little brown box aside and again, very gently, pulled the tape off the bubble wrap and proceeded to unwrap my very sweet little blue box. Emotions were rising inside of my body. My soul was stirring, and I could feel joyous tears filling my eyes. I kept smiling through it all, thinking only of the man I am so fully in love with and how wonderful and crazy our life together will be.

I closed my eyes, holding my little blue box firmly with one hand beneath it and one hand upon it, and I slowly opened the box. Slowly, ever so slowly, I opened my eyes and looked down, and there sat my precious brand new, shining, sparkling symbol of my eternal love for my fiance. It was just a giant perk that this symbol just happens to be of Irish tradition and made in Dublin, Ireland.

When I saw my ring in front of me and could feel it on my finger for the very first time, I cried a few joyous tears. It fits absolutely perfectly, like a glove. It shines, and the diamonds-- yes ladies, I said diamonds-- blind you in the sunlight, as I would know because I had to see it in every backdrop possible yesterday.

I am so happy with my unique wedding ring. I am so happy with the story I can tell with it. I finally have my very own Cinderella story that will only continue to grow as my wedding day draws nearer. I have my Prince Charming, who just so happens to be a Prince Aggravating some days, as I'm sure I am not always the sugar and spice my packaging said I would be.

This is Our story. It is not traditional. It is not perfect. It is not always even clean, but it is Our story. It is very much Us.

P.S. This ring is called a Claddagh. I meant to mention it in the first posting, but I was too wrapped up in my joy. :) There are about three different stories about the origin of this ring, but I choose to believe the version with Richard Joyce, the enslaved fishermen. Just type "claddagh meaning" into google to do your own research.