You see that ring on the left? The big ol’ cluster ring? If you’ve met me in the last 20 years, you saw me wearing that ring. My husband asked me to marry him with that ring.
What you may not know is that when we got engaged, we were young, starry-eyed and DIRT POOR! 😉
We were really blessed that my maternal grandmother (my Granny) was the first owner of that ring. And I tease my husband that the reason he asked me with THAT ring was because he knew I wouldn’t say no while he was holding MY GRANNY’s ring!
That ring isn’t so old, even though it belonged to Granny. Yes, my Papa gave it to her, but he gave it to her 50 years after their wedding!
I guess since they only knew each other for three days before they got married, he didn’t have time to get her a real wedding ring.
Yes, you read that right— THREE DAYS they knew each other before they got married. Who in their right mind would marry someone they just met three days prior (and they met because she was his waitress, if I remember the story right!) ???
They met in a bar or restaurant (I can’t remember that part) and Papa was in the military. This was during WWII, so for all they knew Papa wasn’t going to be around long, I guess... but they got married... less than a year later, they welcomed their firstborn - a girl...and ten years later, they welcomed their second daughter, my mom.
Oh, and there were five boys born to them between those two girls. 😉
7 kids in ten years.... with a husband in the military and a mother-in-law who wanted nothing to do with her son’s new yankee wife.
Later, he would become a business owner, although that did not command the respect he was searching for. And they had a bit of a farm that my granny would run and work with their kids while Papa ... did other things. Their marriage was not the easiest.
But it lasted.
It lasted for 52 years before my Granny finally went on to meet her Savior.
The ring didn’t enter the picture until their 50th anniversary. The story I heard said that Granny told Papa “Ray,” (she called him by his last name... military) She said, “Ray, you better get me a ring this year or there won’t be a next year!” Now, I don’t know if those were her exact words, but I do know she that, as good as Granny was at seeing the good in every person she met, she was even better at speaking plainly to someone who needed to hear the truth clearly.
The year that Granny passed, my Jerry had been planning to ask me to marry him. And somehow Papa gave Jerry the ring that he had given Granny on their 50th anniversary.
It was and is such an honor to be able to wear the ring that represented such tenacity and strength that my Granny had when it came to her marriage. And we were blessed that we were able to have a nice ring for our wedding without the nice price tag. (Just being real... remember, we were young and dirt poor!).
I will FOREVER cherish my Granny’s ring- and I’m so grateful that I have it.
But there’s always been the thought in the back of my mind, and over the last few years in my heart that asked why couldn’t we just have our own ring.
(You’ll notice I’m referring to it as OUR ring—- I mean my and my husband’s ring. I may be weird for thinking about it this way, but since the ring represents the never-ending circle of our relationship and marriage, I consider it his ring too. I mean, it’s not just my marriage, right?)
So I’ve been wanting, for the last several years, my OWN ring. Reflective and representative of our own marriage, not our marriage and someone else’s. A ring that I could look at and know that MY husband picked this out for me. That my husband wanted so much to spend the rest of his earthly life with me that he worked and sweated and worried and paid to get a ring that he thought would be a good representation of our commitment.
And this weekend- in the middle of the most magical weekend I could have asked for- my man delivered!
He COMPLETELY surprised me with an anniversary band that represents the two of us , the life we’ve made, and the commitment that is stronger than ever. It’s called the “You and Me Forever” anniversary band, and it couldn’t be more perfect!
And yes, I know I’m getting a bit sappy, but it just means so much that we now have my OWN wedding band/anniversary band. That I didn’t have to ride the coattails of my grandparents’ marriage anymore but that we are making our own path and traditions and legacy.
He did good, y’all!
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