Five Years

Five years ago today Hubby and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Portland Oregon temple. I've been thinking about this for a few months, and how five years seems like a looong time...and on the other hand it's gone by so fast. I can hardly remember what it was like to not be married, and yet it's been less than a 5th of my life. It will be 17 more years before my time as a married woman equals my time as an unmarried one. ☺ So, I thought today I'd share the story of my rings, since it's somewhat unique...

Hubby proposed with a simple solitaire. Classic, elegant, etc etc. He had picked the stone and the band and all that. A couple of days later he explained to me that he had bought a wedding band also, because he had thought it was pretty, but that he did not want me to feel obligated to have it if I would prefer something else. Well, I had been mentally designing my ring since my early teens, and the band he'd picked wasn't a match to my mental images. Pretty--yes, what I wanted--no. More than anything, the sentimental side of me really wanted for us to have matching rings, so since the band had a row of stones, I asked him how he would feel about having a ring with stones...he didn't want stones. So we concluded that we'd do something else, and I figured he'd exchange this ring for whatever we got instead.
Skip forward to actually choosing rings. This was not an easy proposition! I really liked little side stones that wrapped around the diamond, but the setting on my ring was too tall for them. The jeweler offered to set the diamond in a new band, but I am sentimental and wanted the band that Hubby had picked. Finally we found a ring for him that had a three-band look, and we got me two small bands (one to go either side of the solitaire).(This photo shows the height of my setting, and why a wrapped band was not an option. And yes, I know, his ring is WAY too big for my finger, but it was easier to get a clear picture if they were both on one hand)

Several months later I learned that there is an old Swedish tradition of having a three-banded wedding ring--an engagement band, a wedding band, and a band (also given at the wedding) representing motherhood and the children that were to come. I get a kick out of the fact that my ring follows a tradition I had not even known about when I chose it. ☺

But that is not the end of the story! Unknown to me, Hubby did not return that other band. Instead, he turned it into a mother's ring by having one of the diamonds removed, and having Wolf's birthstone put in. He gave it to me on our first Mother's Day (which was particularly moving since I had miscarried less than a month before). After Bear was born we added his birthstone too, and the middle stones are sitting there waiting for the next few siblings. ☺

(I wear it on the other hand, but again, for the sake of the photo...
and yes, I realize that it only has 5 stones, and no, we are not basing our family planning on this ring. If I need to get a new ring at some point I will! ☺)