For the past year (maybe two, maybe longer), I've been wearing my rings on the little finger of my left hand, because I could no longer wedge them onto my ring finger. (Well, maybe I could, but I stopped trying after getting them uncomfortably stuck one too many times.) I've added a couple of dress/pant sizes since I got married almost (gulp) 35 years ago; I guess it stands to reason that my ring size has increased as well. (Sigh.)
I knew it was the logical thing to do. But handing the rings over to the clerk and watching her put them into a little plastic bag to send away was an emotional moment. And even though I haven't been wearing my rings around the house as much since I started having trouble putting them on, my left hand felt weirdly bare and lightweight after I left them at the store and walked away.
I posted about this on Facebook & got mostly sympathetic replies -- although one (divorced) friend/former coworker wisecracked, "Feeling single? LOL." (I did not respond.)
Anyway -- I was told it would take two to three weeks for the work to be done, but I got a call after one week and one day that the rings were ready for pickup. We went to the mall the next day and the rings are now happily back on the proper finger of my left hand, where they belong. The bands are a little wider than they used to be at the back, but they fit perfectly now, and I don't think they've looked this shiny and bright and sparkling since the day we bought them in the spring of 1985 (at a long-gone independent jewelry store in downtown Winnipeg).
Ours was not the classic down-on-one-knee proposal, let alone the staged and photographed social media event that proposals these days seem to have become -- it was almost more of a mutual agreement than a question that we'd get married, once we'd both finished school. I told my dh-to-be that I didn't care if I got an engagement ring the night before the wedding -- but I did want a ring, lol. He was in Toronto and I was in Manitoba for most of the year leading up to our wedding -- so I wound up going on a solo ring-scouting mission, and we went to get the one I liked when he came, a few months before our wedding, for the weekend marriage prep course required by the minister who was marrying us. I had a lot of fun looking and trying on prospective rings -- much to the bemusement of the store clerks who asked if I had a groom to go with the ring. We weren't sure the store would accept an out-of-province personal cheque, and the limit on dh's student credit card was nowhere near high enough to cover the cost -- he didn't want to be carrying around that much cash -- and there were no debit cards back then, of course -- so he wound up paying for the rings (as well as a gold wedding band for himself) with travellers cheques, lol.I'm glad to have them back where they belong. :)
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.
I think this is so sweet that you were a bit emotional with parting with your rings. They’ve not only been part of the journey, but also a symbol for what your marriage is.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad they are back on your finger in the place they belong. Frankly, I think they deserve a follow-up social media post as 35 years is something to celebrate.
Thanks, Cristy! This blog post is actually an expansion of an Instagram/Facebook post I did with the same photo. :) ;)
DeleteNice! I've put on more than a couple of dress sizes since my wedding, so there's no hope of getting my wedding/engagement rings on. I actually stopped wearing them when I lived in Thailand - the heat made my fingers swell - only five years after my wedding. Then for my 20th wedding anniversary, we both got new rings - I call mine "my married-to-D" ring. I've been meaning for ages to go to the jeweller who made my new ring, to get them to repurpose or remake my old rings, perhaps as ear-rings or a pendant. Maybe this year!
ReplyDeleteI love that you went ring shopping sans groom! Your rings are beautiful, I love the swooshy-ness. And I'm glad they're back on your finger! That must have been strange. Congrats on 35 years of marriage and ring-wearing!
ReplyDeleteOy. I've learned in the last year what weight I needed to be to fit my wedding rings back on. Cue the facepalm. I lost about 25 pounds and could finally wear them again after a long hiatus. I'm so glad they're back on your hand. I love your engagement story.
ReplyDeleteI like the design of your rings! Is that kind of a wave? It's similar to mine, so of course I like it! (it's not easy to tell: https://lavenderluz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ring-engagement.jpg)
ReplyDeleteAmused at paying by travelers checks. Are they even a thing now?
Wow, they do look similar, Lori! :) I'm not quite sure how to describe mine -- a wave would be one way of describing it/them, or maybe a twist? Both rings are sort of two levels/tones... the one side is brushed/etched gold & the other is plain/solid gold. It was just a little bit different, which is why I liked it!
DeleteI have no idea whether anyone still uses (or offers!) traveller's cheques. My mother used to bring them along when she came to visit me -- but even though they're supposed to be like cash & good anywhere, by the early 2000s, she found in many places the store clerks (young people!) had no idea what they were or what to do with them. By then, most places were taking credit or debit cards & cash machines were everywhere anyway.
Its so sweet that you remember so clearly a time that must have been very special. And you tell it so nicely too.
ReplyDelete