Toe Ring

Let's be real, this whole post is a shameless excuse to post another picture from my now long ago vacation.  If you can not tell, I would love to be looking out at this crisp aqua green sea of water and sand rather than this computer screen, but that is not the reason for this post.  Still pretty though....

See the ring around my toe?  No the other foot--the one on top.  There you go.  That is my toe ring.  Yes, a toe ring.  I think when people see that I wear one, most think it is against my norm or that it is just not me.  If I saw me and did not know me either, I would think the same thing.  But the fact is I do have one and I have worn it every day since a June day in 1997.  Yes, that is how long this little piece of jewelry has taken up residence on my toe.  I never take it off.  It is now formed in the shape of my toe, bent here and there, and sometimes needs to be re-adjusted when swimming or getting a pedicure.  It is part of me.  Why?

I remember exactly where I was and who I was with when I purchased said toe treasure.   I had just graduated high school and was attending Young Life's Frontier Ranch with some of my friends.  It was an amazing experience that has impacted my life more than I give it credit for if I am just looking at the surface.  If I dig deeper, it made me think about things and relationships in a way that I ever knew before and that is priceless as I still carry those things with me today. Back to the story:  I remember my friends Elizabeth and Lisa perusing the gift shop with me as I stumbled across these toe rings.  Elizabeth and I purchased them and immediately put them on...and did it hurt.  I almost took it off and called it a day, but sucked it up.  Then the next day, we literally climbed a mountain.  After that, it bent to the shape of my toe and there was no worry!

In May, I got together with my blogger girls and little Aislynn asked me what was that on my toe and why do I wear it?  It was such a sweet question, but how do I answer it?  So I told her it was a toe ring and that I wore it because I liked it.  I have never really thought about why I still wear it after all these years.  It's cute--simple--but just an accessory.  So why do I wear it?  I wear it to remind me of that time when I was on the cusp of discovering me.  Me, the young adult who had a lifetime before her to learn, grow, change, and figure out the person I would or could become.  I think I still wear it for all of those same reasons.  I am always trying to learn more, grow more, change, and still figure out the person I can be.  I like that about myself, the status quo changing---and sometimes I wished it changed more.  What I do know is that this toe ring has been with me through the beginning and end of college, through every failed relationship since the summer of  1997, through finding my love in 2002, through all the jobs I have had over the years, and every day in there.  This toe ring was on my foot the day I said, "Yes", the day I said, "I Do", and the birth of my daughter, and remains there on all the other days that are just days.  It is part of me.  That is why I wear it.  It is simply part of me.