MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT

Mentor Commentary:
Katie Strine

Recipient Reflection: 
Janet Marstine

On "The Ring" ​by Janet Marstine

by Katie Strine

The first draft of this essay stuck with me because of the tangible—the ring. Stated in the title, handled by the writer, the ring has a heaviness, a concrete weight I could feel in my palm. It was an obvious center piece, but the conflict and theme of the essay needed attention.

Janet had posed several questions to examine the internal conflict, but those questions sought to answer what the ring symbolized from others’ perspectives. What strangers think about such a flashy ring; what her husband thinks about her replacing his engagement ring with this one; what her daughter might think about inheriting it herself. Instead, I wanted to hear more about what the ring symbolized from Janet’s perspective. Those external eyes still exist in the final version, but the resolution now belongs to Janet.

This revision process brought to mind how we project emotions onto otherwise “empty” heirlooms. Nothing we own has meaning until we instill meaning onto it. To inspire Janet’s conclusion, I thought of my grandmother’s magnifying glass that sits on my writing desk. To anyone else, it’s just that: an oddly matched, heavy, mostly unused object. But for me, I picture my grandmother handling it, the weight of it in her hand.

When our loved ones pass away, we cling to objects because we think it will bring us closer to them. It keeps their memories, and therefore them, present in our everyday lives. Janet’s ring is clearly worth more than its monetary value, and while it might not escape that external gaze, its worth rests with the owner.

Katie Strine

Katie Strine is a fiction writer and educator. Her work has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, Necessary Fiction, Barely South Review and others. Once nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Katie has also been supported by The Kenyon Review. She has formerly supported GSR as a reader and has volunteered with Electric Literature and Typehouse Literary Journal. Nothing compares, however, to working within the community that Literary Cleveland and GSR support and inspire.