Catherine’s size acceptance journey expands to include… fingers

As we age, we notice lots of changes in our bodies. That includes pretty much all parts of our bodies. Yes, I’ve adapted to increased clothing sizes and even shoe size; I’m about 3/4 shoe size larger than I was in college– from US women’s size 8 to almost 9 (depends on shoe brand and type). One thing I forgot about until recently though, was how my fingers have changed over the years.

I used to wear rings in my teens and twenties, but got out of the habit after that. When I tried one on a few months ago, I noticed it was tight-ish. No big deal. However, I faced an actual ring size reality moment when I inherited a ring from my aunt Winifred, who died a few months ago. It is a platinum-set art deco diamond ring that I always admired. I was very touched that she left it to me, and it has great sentimental value as a reminder of her.

I went to a jeweler last week to see about getting the ring resized. When asked what ring size I was, I said, “well, I used to be a six and a half”. “Yeah, weren’t we all”, responded the jeweler. It was time to find out my current ring size, so out came the ring sizer.

Note: at this point in the blog, I wanted to offer some background on both ring sizing and what we know about how ring size increased with age. However, when I googled, this was one of the top sites I found:

Okay, that was a google fail. Trying again, I found a bunch of jewelers’ sites offering bits of information to the effect that yes, ring size can increase with age. Mainly it’s because our knuckles get bigger as we age– all of our joints change in composition, and we can get bone spurs (called osteophytes) in our fingers as well.

Great. All I wanted to do was get my ring resized, and now I’m examining my hands to check for bone spurs. Sigh.

But I digress. The business at hand was to find out my current up-to-the-minute ring size. We needed a ring sizer. There are all kinds of them, ranging from fancy to very DIY.

The jeweler I saw used the key chain of ring sizes, and also we tried some rings from the cases. I am now about a 7 1/2. They will resize my ring and also give it a “little TLC” according to the jeweler, making sure the setting is holding the stones in place. Yay!

Now that I’m noticing my hands in their current state, awaiting my resized lovely ring, I’m thinking they can use a little TLC as well. For me this means massaging with lotion more often, and maybe even getting a hand massage. This site offers instructions on doing a hand massage on yourself, but I may go out in search of a professional one sometime. If I do, I’ll report back. And I’ll show you my aunt’s ring once it’s sized to be just right for me and my hand.