I have started wearing a Claddaugh that my dad got me on a layover in Ireland when he was on his way back home from his tour of duty. I have often wondered how many people actually think about what the Claddaugh really stands for. The circle around the outside of my pendant says Friendship, Love, Loyalty. If you think about it no matter what relationship you have with a person those 3 things are vital. If it is just a friendship you still have to be loyal and love the person to be a true friend. If it is a lover or a spouse you have to be friends first and foremost, loyal to the one you love, and love the person you are with. Those 3 emotions are the most important things in any relationship.
There are two hands clasping a heart in the center. Two people holding one heart together. This is why this symbol has been given to husbands and wives for centuries in Ireland. There are many variations with the crown and without the crown but the meaning is always the same. The kind of unconditional acceptance and love that best friends have is the only way to start a Forever kind of Love. Hell even Jim Morrison exchanged claddaugh ring with his wife Patricia when they were married!
Take for instance my parents. They have been married 31 yeas in a round about way. Their love is a Forever kind of Love. They have known each other since they were 13. They were together after my mom's mom was killed by a drunk driver. Their friendship survived through two kids with other people (1 for mom and 1 for dad). They survived through Dadʼs entire military career (even him coming home on leave to marry her and pick up her son and all of their stuff and move them to Germany in 30 days). They survived a divorce, a separation, and me and my brother through our teenage years. Through it all they still came back together because their friendship never faltered. They still go to sleep in each other's arms at night. They still go out and do things together. They still say I love you every morning before my dad goes to work because anything can happen during the day to make him not come home and she knows she would be lost without her best friend.
That is the kind of love everyone should be gifted with and I believe that everyone is. The question is: when it comes along will you choose to accept the knowledge and be strong enough to accept the gift of unconditional acceptance and love that is right in front of you? I'm not sure I would even see it because of my past, but if I did I would hope I would be strong enough to hold tight and never let go.
