With all the work I do, I choose to only wear this ring as it is small and less likely to become ruined by wear and tear. It is in fact my birthstone ring and if truth be told I received it by default. Having a husband who is not big on giving jewelry, bless his soul, I remember him saying to me after we were married that my wedding ring would be the last I would receive from him. Not being one to be trapped by desiring bigger, better or more than others have, it did not truly concern me, but I guess my story concerning rings started from the time we were engaged.
When Johan first asked me if I would marry him and I said 'yes', we went 'ring shopping', looking in all the jewelry store windows to find something I liked. Eventually I found something, small, pretty and delicate and it came as a twin set with the wedding band fitting in...just what I was looking for. From ring shopping the next step was to ask my parents if he would give his blessing and it came with the usual 'daddy' speech of those days - lol
Once that was over, I just had to wait till the official big proposal took place and when that ring was placed on my finger I was the happiest girl alive. My happiness came crashing down around me, when one Sunday night after returning home from church I saw that one of the stones had fallen out. I clearly remember Sara and I crawling around on our hands and knees on our bedroom floor, as well as in the passage, looking for a diamond that we were very unlikely to find, and find it we didn't. I guess the next day, when I told Johan what had had happened to my ring, was the day I realized without a shadow of a doubt that I had chosen right and I had chosen well. I was nervous, no petrified to tell him, imaging him getting angry and shouting the odds...but he didn't. He wasn't angry at all, in fact he was really calm and almost apologetic at what had happened. We took my ring back to the shop where he bought it and they promised to repair it. Sadly when we got it back, it looked nothing like the original design and I was so clearly disappointed that Johan did his best to sort it out. We ended up receiving a complete new engagement ring and separate wedding band to replace what we had before and I wore them for many years before they were stolen during one of our many break-ins. Having insurance gave me an opportunity to 'replace' them and with the value having increased over the years, I was left with a big decision in choosing replacements and was blessed to be able to get 4 rings for the same value - a new engagement ring, two eternity bands and the emerald ring, which as I said before, is my birthstone....and that is the story of how I got this ring 'by default'. Every day looking at my ring brings back different memories, the best of which is that it binds me to the man I love, the man who has shared 33 years of his life with me, the man who has seen me at my best and at my worst, the man who I have shared laughter and tears with, the man who with the Lords blessing will be by my side for many, many more years.
Soon after we became in engaged in June 1981
As we are today...
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