New ring

For a little while now I've been wanting to buy a new ring to replace the one I wear on my right hand. The old ring was sort of a gift from my parents for my 8th grade graduation, and I've worn it ever since then, so for 15 years. That's why I wanted to replace it and not just go without anything, I'm too used to wearing something on my finger. The skin is even indented from wearing the ring for so long.

I was getting tired of the old ring though, which is made from Black Hills gold in the shape of a flower. The flower part is pink gold, with a little diamond in the center. It's a little too cutesy. I also felt a bit guilty and silly over getting it in the first place. My parents didn't just go out and get it for me as a gift, I talked to them (well, my mom mostly) about a gift for the graduation "cuz other kids are getting gifts from their parents," and then she and I went to a shop where I picked it out. It was more expensive than they really could afford, so she told me not to tell my dad about it for awhile. All of that, coupled with the fact that it was bought for such a lame "milestone", made me start to regret the thing and want to get something that fit me more now.

I had the idea to look for something on holiday so that it would seem a bit more special and I could think back fondly to the place where I'd bought it. I looked vaguely at some jewelry shops when we went to Portugal last year, but other than that I hadn't really looked anywhere. Going on this last trip to Florence though, which is known for its jewelers, I wanted to have a look around. And so I managed to find something, on the Ponte Vecchio no less, that was pretty much what I was looking for (though admittedly I had a rather vague idea of what I wanted) and it was something I could afford. It's a very simple band of gold, but laid in the middle is a band of smooth, polished, reddish-brown enamel (they also had ones in blue and green). I started wearing it yesterday and sometimes I feel like I'm getting used to it, but most of the time I move it around on my finger like it's the old ring, trying to center it, forgetting it's a smooth band all the way around. Plus I always nervously fiddled with the old ring and it had all sorts of places where I'd run my thumbnails sub-consciously, and now I can't do that. I still keep being careful around sweaters, thinking I need to watch that my ring doesn't snag on them. I wonder how long it will take to erase 15 years of habit.