Around my 15th birthday, I received a little pink box with a cream colored ribbon running down the middle of it. As I opened the box I recognized the quote that had been engraved on the sterling silver ring. As I looked up from the box I traced my mother's entire smile with my eyes. She was so proud to have found me a ring engraved with her favorite quote, “I love you to the moon and back."

Since then that ring has been permanently placed on my middle finger on my left hand. I keep my ring on my left hand because my left hand is my dominant hand. This way I notice and look at my ring every time I use my dominant hand, which is constantly. As a gift from my mother, this ring contains a lot of sentimental value to me. Ever since I was little my mother would tell me and my other two siblings the saying, “I love you to the moon and back”. This quote will always be something to remember my mom by and to remind me of the love my family shares. This quote is now engraved in my ring and is carried around with me twenty-four seven.

Many of the decisions I make are influenced by my ring. One of the most recent decisions I have made based on my ring was to get a tattoo. My sister and I had been talking about getting a tattoo for our mother. What better tattoo to get than one that represents the same quote that is engraved on my ring. Since my sister has a necklace engraved with the same quote that my mother had given her as well, she loved the idea of getting a tattoo to represent that same quote. While looking through countless ideas we decided on a shaded moon that would be placed on our wrists. When I went with my sister and mom to go get the tattoo, my sister went first. Seeing the needle go in and out of the skin on my sisters right wrist was very intimidating. There was a brief thought that entered into my mind while hearing the vibrations of the tattoo machine, basically chicken out. Before I could chicken out of the entire thing the tattoo artist asked what wrist I wanted it on. I looked down at both of my wrist and the first thing I saw was my ring place on my middle finger on my left hand, where it always is. Immediately without even realizing I told the tattoo artist my left wrist, that way my tattoo will be with my ring. I sat through the pain of a needle piercing into my wrist thousands of times because I decided to feel super brave when I looked at my ring. In the end I was bleeding and my wrist contained a pain as if a wasp had stung me hundreds of times, but all that pain was worth it. Now my sister, mom, and I all have matching tattoos to match the love we all share.

My ring also helped me think of the perfect mother’s day gift this year. It was going to be mother's day and I had realized that I didn't have a gift for my mom. I started looking on pinterest for gift ideas, but I wasn't finding anything I wanted to do. That is when my mom handed me ointment to put on my tattoo. While I was putting ointment on my tattoo, I looked at my ring and the perfect idea popped in my head. I had a ring with the quote engraved in it, and my sister had the necklace with the quote engraved it, but my mom didn’t have anything like that. I looked online and found a necklace that had a moon pendant with the same quote engraved in it, but it also had a heart pendant that had the word mom engraved it in as well. I was able to get my siblings to split the cost with me. While my mom opened her mother’s day present she had the exact same look on her face that I had when I received my ring.

Now that I have a niece I have been searching for a bracelet with the same quote engraved in it. This way she can have the same feelings towards a bracelet that I have towards my ring. Even as the newest member of the family, I always tell my niece the quote, “I love you to the moon and back” whenever she tells me she loves me. I believe in my ring, because it reminds me of the unbreakable love that exist between my family and I.