{"id":106769,"date":"2022-01-25T10:22:31","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T18:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=106769"},"modified":"2022-01-25T10:28:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T18:28:53","slug":"another-year-another-spoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/another-year-another-spoon\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Year, Another Spoon!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span>oday is both the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, and the fourteenth anniversary of the day I wed my beautiful bride. It is, as I have said before<\/a>, a “moment when everything changed, celebrated on a day when everything changed”. It\u2019s important to mark those changes in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Roaring!\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Francine and I have a funny tradition. When I proposed to her, I distracted her for a moment by the gift of a wooden Welsh love spoon. While she was oohing over it, I fell to one knee and took out the ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our wedding day in 2008, I gave her another. Each anniversary since then, I’ve done the same. The wall is starting to fill up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Wall of Spoons, 2022<\/span><\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They are small tokens of a great love. In the Welsh tradition, the various carvings have different meanings<\/a>. In addition, there are the meanings which we ourselves give them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That spoon in the photo with the two spoon-y bits is the one I gave her when I proposed – two becoming one. The funny crooked one to its right was our wedding spoon. We’re both a little twisty!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These spoons are just one example of physical commemorations given on a chronological commemoration. So that in times both difficult and beautiful, we can look up at the wall and remember what it’s all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The 2022 Spoon<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And when you think about it, this is also why we give gifts at Christmas. It’s why children still put their shoes (or socks!) out for Saint Nicholas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, this is why we celebrate feasts of the Lord and of the saints at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s the reason we have icons and statues as well. To remember. To be reminded, for instance, that on this day nearly two thousand years ago, the Pharisee enforcer Saul was driven to the ground by the voice of the Lord, to arise (in time) as the Apostle Saint Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And having been reminded, to celebrate that person or that event, because these people are our family – the Communion of Saints – and these events are part of our family history and tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a>
The Conversion of Saint Paul by Blessed Fra Angelico, c. 1430<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is both the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, and the fourteenth anniversary of the day I wed my beautiful bride. It is, as I have said before, a “moment when everything changed, celebrated on a day when everything changed”. It\u2019s important to mark those changes in our lives. Francine and I have a funny tradition. When I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Blatherings from the Blog: Another Year, Another Spoon! 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It is, as I have said before, a \"moment when everything changed, celebrated on a day when everything changed\". It\u2019s important to mark those changes in our lives. Francine actually changed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107568,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/fifteen-roaring-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":106769,"position":1},"title":"Fifteen Roaring Years","author":"Thom","date":"25 January 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, and the fifteenth anniversary of the day I wed my beautiful bride. It is, as I have said before, a \"moment when everything changed, celebrated on a day when everything changed\". It\u2019s important to mark those changes in our lives. I realized a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109392,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/still-roaring\/","url_meta":{"origin":106769,"position":2},"title":"Still Roaring!","author":"Thom","date":"25 January 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, and the seventeenth anniversary of the day I wed my beautiful bride. It is, as I have said before, a \"moment when everything changed, celebrated on a day when everything changed\". It\u2019s important to mark those changes in our lives. Francine actually changed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?fit=600%2C404&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102992,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/have-you-seen-this-spoon\/","url_meta":{"origin":106769,"position":3},"title":"Have You Seen this Spoon?","author":"Thom","date":"25 January 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"is both the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul and the twelfth anniversary of the day I wed my beautiful bride. 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Francine and I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Roaring.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106136,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/lockdown-spoon\/","url_meta":{"origin":106769,"position":4},"title":"Lockdown Spoon","author":"Thom","date":"25 January 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, and the thirteenth anniversary of the day I wed my beautiful bride. 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