Once a Hokie*

I recently discovered my old college ring, lying dormant in the bottom of my jewelry box. It's pretty nice--gold with a garnet (my birthstone). I put it away years ago, because except for engagement and wedding rings, I never really considered myself a "ring person." There are "ring people," you know, just as some women can carry off the wearing of summer hats with dignity and panache. Those are "hat people." (Winter hats worn out of necessity don't figure into the formula of who is or isn't a "hat person." Otherwise all the women of New England would be hat people, and sadly, many of us just aren't.)

They say that the men's version of the ring from my school--Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg--is so large that it has to be registered as a lethal weapon in at least three states. I think that's an urban myth (though admittedly a pretty cool one), but it certainly was true that the men's ring cost hundreds of dollars more than the woman's version because of the extra gold. The woman's ring is smaller, more elegant. I think it could only be a lethal weapon if you fired it out of a Smith & Wesson .45.

So I found the ring, and I thought I'd put the old "not-a-ring-person" thing to the test. It's been about a month now, and I have to say, I like it. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I'm just older and my tastes have matured.

But that doesn't make me a hat person. Some things never change.

*For those of you who don't follow college football--a Hokie is the mascot of Virginia Tech. It's a turkey. Don't laugh. Ben Franklin thought the turkey should be our national bird, after all.