WHAT'S THE STORY BEHIND YOUR RING?

I WAS LOOKING FOR A SIMILAR THREAD BUT COULDN'T FIND ONE. SO WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND YOUR RING? SO AFTER BEING RAISED IN 2013 I WENT THROUGH LETS SAY SOME DARKNESS AND NOTHING BAD I ACTUALLY MOVED AWAY FROM MY HOME LODGE BECAUSE OF A WORK TRANSFER, AND NOW I HAVE MOVED BACK HOME AFTER ALMOST THREE YEARS. I HAVE CONTINUED MY JOURNEY ALMOST LIKE I HAVE NOT BEEN GONE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. EXPECT I THINK I WOULD BE SW OR IN THE EAST NOT A TILLER. BUT.. THAT DOESN'T BOTHER ME IM HAPPY TO BE HOME AND MOVING FORWARD THIS IS WHAT WAS PLANNED FOR ME THIS IS MY JOURNEY I AM NOT IN ANYWAY UPSET WITH THE EVENTS THAT HAVE BEEN LAID BEFORE ME.

NOW THAT I AM BACK I TOLD MY WIFE FROM THE START OF MY JOURNEY THAT I WANTED A RING FROM A PAWN SHOP OR A ANTIQUE SHOP. SOMETHING WORN BY A BROTHER THAT HAS HISTORY THAT IS OLD AND BEAUTIFUL THAT HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME. WELL TODAY I FINALLY FOUND THAT RING IN A PAWN SHOP I ASKED THE PAWN SHOP IF THEY KNEW WHO DROPPED IT OFF OR IF THEY KNEW THE STORY OF WHY IT WAS DROPPED OFF? I KNOW THEY CANT ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BUT WHY WONDER MIGHT AS WELL ASK.. RIGHT. I ENDED UP PURCHASING THE RING FOR 300 BUCKS NOT TO BAD I THOUGHT.. I STARTED TO LOOK INSIDE THE RING AND WAS LEFT A LITTLE SURPRISE INITIALS OF THE OWNER.. AND A DATE.. I DON'T RECOGNIZE THE INITIALS AND THE RING COULD HAVE COME FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND SOMEONE'S KIDS DECIDE AFTER THEY DIED TO GET RID OF IT.. BUT I HAVE ASKED MY LODGE IF THEY CAN RECALL ANYBODY LOCALLY WITH THOSE INITIALS I WILL FOLLOW UP LATER. BUT THE DATE SOMETHING I WAS EXCITED ABOUT BECAUSE IT REPRESENTS WHAT I WANTED FROM MY RING.. NOT KNOWING IF IT IS HIS INITIATION DATE OR THE DATE HE WAS RAISED BECAUSE IT DOESN'T SAY BUT THE DATE IS.... 7/21/1995 MY RING IS ALMOST 21 YEARS OLD... HAHA... I WILL PROBABLY NEVER FIND THE ORGININAL OWNER OR KNOW WHAT THE DATE IS..OR KNOW WHERE IT HAS TRAVELED.. BUT I KNOW I FEEL LIKE I GET TO GIVE THIS RING ANOTHER STORY AND A NEW JOURNEY.

ON A SIDE NOTE. I MENTIONED THAT I PAID 300 FOR THE RING.. SO I LOOKED AND LOOKED FOR A RING THAT LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE MINE.. AND I FOUND ONE.. FOR SALE AT ZALES.. FOR ONLY 1300 BUCKS.. NOT SAYING IT IS THE SAME RING BUT I WLL SAY IT LOOKS DANG CLOSE... I WILL GO BY ZALES THIS WEEK AND FIND OUT..

Back when I was married my wife had a ring on the shelf in the bathroom. It had a red stone with a gold square and compass etched on it. I looked at that ring every morning and often wondered about Masonry. The first thing I ever turned on a lathe was a stand for it.
One day I met a Mason and got a little info on the Craft. I mentioned it to my wife and discovered that she had a deep hatred for the institution and that she only kept the ring for its aesthetic appeal. It had belonged to her grandfather, but the story ran deeper and wasn't pleasant.
Fast-forward a number of years: we divorced and once again I found myself seeking Masonry. I made my way to the door, found the same man I had met before sitting in the East, and in time joined the Lodge. Several years later my ex-wife contacted me; she was in dire straits and wondered if I wanted the ring. Of course I did! I bought it, had it sized, and wear it any time I "suit up." I also did some sleuthing and found the lodge her grandfather was Raised in.

WEST TX MASON said:

I WAS LOOKING FOR A SIMILAR THREAD BUT COULDN'T FIND ONE. SO WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND YOUR RING? SO AFTER BEING RAISED IN 2013 I WENT THROUGH LETS SAY SOME DARKNESS AND NOTHING BAD I ACTUALLY MOVED AWAY FROM MY HOME LODGE BECAUSE OF A WORK TRANSFER, AND NOW I HAVE MOVED BACK HOME AFTER ALMOST THREE YEARS. I HAVE CONTINUED MY JOURNEY ALMOST LIKE I HAVE NOT BEEN GONE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. EXPECT I THINK I WOULD BE SW OR IN THE EAST NOT A TILLER. BUT.. THAT DOESN'T BOTHER ME IM HAPPY TO BE HOME AND MOVING FORWARD THIS IS WHAT WAS PLANNED FOR ME THIS IS MY JOURNEY I AM NOT IN ANYWAY UPSET WITH THE EVENTS THAT HAVE BEEN LAID BEFORE ME.

NOW THAT I AM BACK I TOLD MY WIFE FROM THE START OF MY JOURNEY THAT I WANTED A RING FROM A PAWN SHOP OR A ANTIQUE SHOP. SOMETHING WORN BY A BROTHER THAT HAS HISTORY THAT IS OLD AND BEAUTIFUL THAT HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME. WELL TODAY I FINALLY FOUND THAT RING IN A PAWN SHOP I ASKED THE PAWN SHOP IF THEY KNEW WHO DROPPED IT OFF OR IF THEY KNEW THE STORY OF WHY IT WAS DROPPED OFF? I KNOW THEY CANT ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BUT WHY WONDER MIGHT AS WELL ASK.. RIGHT. I ENDED UP PURCHASING THE RING FOR 300 BUCKS NOT TO BAD I THOUGHT.. I STARTED TO LOOK INSIDE THE RING AND WAS LEFT A LITTLE SURPRISE INITIALS OF THE OWNER.. AND A DATE.. I DON'T RECOGNIZE THE INITIALS AND THE RING COULD HAVE COME FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND SOMEONE'S KIDS DECIDE AFTER THEY DIED TO GET RID OF IT.. BUT I HAVE ASKED MY LODGE IF THEY CAN RECALL ANYBODY LOCALLY WITH THOSE INITIALS I WILL FOLLOW UP LATER. BUT THE DATE SOMETHING I WAS EXCITED ABOUT BECAUSE IT REPRESENTS WHAT I WANTED FROM MY RING.. NOT KNOWING IF IT IS HIS INITIATION DATE OR THE DATE HE WAS RAISED BECAUSE IT DOESN'T SAY BUT THE DATE IS.... 7/21/1995 MY RING IS ALMOST 21 YEARS OLD... HAHA... I WILL PROBABLY NEVER FIND THE ORGININAL OWNER OR KNOW WHAT THE DATE IS..OR KNOW WHERE IT HAS TRAVELED.. BUT I KNOW I FEEL LIKE I GET TO GIVE THIS RING ANOTHER STORY AND A NEW JOURNEY.

ON A SIDE NOTE. I MENTIONED THAT I PAID 300 FOR THE RING.. SO I LOOKED AND LOOKED FOR A RING THAT LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE MINE.. AND I FOUND ONE.. FOR SALE AT ZALES.. FOR ONLY 1300 BUCKS.. NOT SAYING IT IS THE SAME RING BUT I WLL SAY IT LOOKS DANG CLOSE... I WILL GO BY ZALES THIS WEEK AND FIND OUT.. View attachment 5146 View attachment 5148

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Hi Bro

I don't wear a ring - never found one which suited my hand.

Not trying to be rude, but you do know that typing all in caps is considered shouting in internet etiquette ?

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acjohnson53 said:

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Sorry, i do not understand

Bloke said:

Hi Bro

I don't wear a ring - never found one which suited my hand.

Not trying to be rude, but you do know that typing all in caps is considered shouting in internet etiquette ?

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I ALSO AM NOT BEING RUDE BUT I AM OFFENDED THAT PEOPLE FEEL THE NEED TO CORRECT ME WHEN YALL DON'T EVEN KNOW ME....
I DO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS BUT I HAVE ISSUES READING COMPUTER SCREENS NOT THAT I FEEL IT IS ANYBODIES BUISNESS BUT SINCE YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST TO FEEL THE NEED TO TELL ME HOW RUDE I AM OR INCONSIDERATE I AM . I DIDNT REALIZE THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ARE SO EASILY OFFENDED BY WHAT SHOULD BE A LIGHT HEARTED SUBJECT. INSTEAD PEOPLE COMPLAIN AND MAKE THINGS THAT ARE NOT IMPORTANT AN ISSUE BECAUSE THERE FEELINGS ARE HURT BY SOMEONE TYPING IN ALL CAPS.. IT TRULY IS SAD ON YALLS PART.

WEST TX MASON said:

I ALSO AM NOT BEING RUDE BUT I AM OFFENDED THAT PEOPLE FEEL THE NEED TO CORRECT ME WHEN YALL DON'T EVEN KNOW ME....
I DO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS BUT I HAVE ISSUES READING COMPUTER SCREENS NOT THAT I FEEL IT IS ANYBODIES BUISNESS BUT SINCE YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST TO FEEL THE NEED TO TELL ME HOW RUDE I AM OR INCONSIDERATE I AM . I DIDNT REALIZE THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ARE SO EASILY OFFENDED BY WHAT SHOULD BE A LIGHT HEARTED SUBJECT. INSTEAD PEOPLE COMPLAIN AND MAKE THINGS THAT ARE NOT IMPORTANT AN ISSUE BECAUSE THERE FEELINGS ARE HURT BY SOMEONE TYPING IN ALL CAPS.. IT TRULY IS SAD ON YALLS PART.

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If you're offended, I must have been rude. I apologize.

I've been in advertising and, etiquette aside (which I do think is important) it's harder to read all capitals, especially when in paragraphs. I have my own issues, I've got vision problems, it's one of the reasons I often misspell things. Hence I get mixed up with i and l and often miss when I type n for m or vice versa, esp on different devices. Also doesnt help i'm not the best speller in the world LOL. That said, I try to be careful because otherwise people will stop reading my posts. I said something about this after seeing several posts in all caps wondering if you were aware of internet conventions and because, i find reading all caps quite draining.

He was quite polite about telling you the internet convention. You could have been equally polite in explaining why you feel the need to type in all caps.

I have trouble with people saying that they need to do it because of their vision, since it should be easier to read your own posts, where you know what you've said, than to read other people's posts, which are not in all caps.

MarkR said:

He was quite polite about telling you the internet convention. You could have been equally polite in explaining why you feel the need to type in all caps.

I have trouble with people saying that they need to do it because of their vision, since it should be easier to read your own posts, where you know what you've said, than to read other people's posts, which are not in all caps.

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Thanks for your comment.

It might not be vision per say, might be a processing problem. Reading easily is just something most of us take for granted. If I had to type in caps, I'd be pasting all my posts into MSWord and changing them to 'sentence case'.... there's work arounds for lots of these problems. Mine is special boards in resturants: now with awesome cameras in phones, I just take a photo of them and use my phone to zoom in on the text. What's funny is being a wm for a third, we leave 1 lesser light on in the East which really messes up my vision, I do it by sound or a guy beside me poking me

Generally "issues reading computer screens" can be resolved by setting the font size in your browser. If you post which browser you use I'd be happy to walk you through the menus.

My MM ring - I bought it from a pawn my to bring it back into the family.
My SR ring - I bought it from eBay to bring it back into the family.
My California PM ring - I bought it new. It forms a matched set with my California PM apron.
My Illinois PM ring - I bought it because the symbol is slightly different than the California PM symbol. I didn't get an IL PM apron so if I wear both it's now an unmatched set. CA PM apron, IL PM ring. It takes close inspection to tell them apart but they are different.

I managed to get a very classic British style masonic swivel ring, but normally the blank side goes upward...
The hallmark is my year of joining freemasonry, including Initiation, Passing and Raising all three ceremonies.

After reading dfreybur's post somewhere, I started to bring back the "lost" masonic things into the family.
I have got a few breast jewels and lapel pins on eBay and refurbished them myself and wear it with pride in meetings, also I bought a gold swivel ring which look like a shield. As I already have one, so I gave it to a brother in his raising as a gift to him, and I see him wearing the ring anytime. It is very good to see our items coming back to the fold.
There was a time that I saw a lodge need to hand back the warrants and the resolution of the lodge said to sell all the lodge furniture out. As a current SW, I bought (actually a small sum of donation) the SW collar and jewel from them, refurbished it and wear it in the Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Lodge, because my Lodge is far away from me and it is difficult to get the collar and jewel every time before I go to the GL and MetGL, I hope I will pass the collar to my successor to keep it in the big family, not wasting it in the drawer for doing nothing...

My wife presented me with my PM ring at the new officers installation last week. It is a class ring style that she had customized. n the top, it has a blue stone with the PM symbol surrounded by the words PAST MASTER. On the left side it has the double headed eagle symbol of the SR and on the right side it has the S & C inside the State of Texas.
My MM ring was just one that I bought myself, nothing special

My wife bought a sleek tungsten ring off of E-Bay and presented it to me the night I was going to be raised. I wear it everyday, I haven't had a brother notice it during the ordinary course of the day but I've had lots of people ask me about it.

After looking for awhile I found the perfect ring for me. A signet ring made of silver with the S&C etched in black. I consider it understated elegance. It helps that I usually dress in black and wear silver jewelry, lol!

I bought a cheap gold plated nugget ring with the S&C and about the time the gold was wearing off my son presented me with a silver band with the S&C mounted on it. Simple elegance for which I have received numerous positive comments.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using My Freemasonry Pro mobile app

I bought low end ring as soon as I got raised until I'm able to comfortably afford a very good one. I never thought of buying a used one from a pawn shop to bring it back to the Family. I will do so immediately.


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Mine was presented to me right after I was raised by a Brother whom is also a relative. It was his father's ring who had passed away less than a year prior. I wear it with honor for multiple reasons.

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I was initiated into Freemasonry Sept. 19, 1977. My father, of blessed memory, was able to attend having been initiated in 1951, the year of my Birth. He died on Oct. 23, 1977 and requested his ring come to me. My mother presented it to me after I was raised. Only took it off when my job required it. Will probably be buried with it.

My sister gave mine to me- she's OES in Baton Rouge.

WEST TX MASON said:

II HAVE ISSUES READING COMPUTER SCREENS

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1)Glasses
2)change screen resolution.
3) CTRL +
4)???
5) /profit


It's like my father-in-law who wont get hearing aids because he is too proud. So instead of a conversation, I get to yell and repeat everything I say. It is so annoying.

I guess that is how the world is today though. It's never one's own responsibility to rectify their situation. Everyone else must relent to your problems.

Have fun on the internet...unless of course that is exactly what you are doing...Having fun on the internet.