My husband (who was in the Navy at this time) was sent to Turkey on a three-month deployment back in July of 2000. Naturally, it was the longest three months of my life, and when he got Home, he brought me a couple of presents. Both were picked up in Shannon Ireland while the plane was being refueled and checked.
When he walked into the hangar, he turned me around and told me to move my hair out of the way. Then he put a silver necklace with a claddaugh pendant on it around my neck. To this day, I've only removed it thrice, and that was to change out the necklaces..for some reason, I'm really allergic to metal around my neck.
A few days later, we were at a local pub where I was shooting pool for a league. We went out to get some fresh air and I was staring up at the moon when he walked up and put his arms around me. He had had a few Killian's and was obviously feeling pretty good and the first thing he said was, "I swear this isn't the alcohol talking...."
The other gift from Ireland was a silver claddaugh ring, with the heart set with the truest green I've ever seen in an emerald. (I'm not big on diamonds) I wore it as my engagement ring, and now I wear it as my wedding band.
