Saturday, December 20, 2008

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! ☺)

5 comments:

Emily said...

Happy Anniversary! Next May will be 5 years for us too.

Randee said...

Happy Anniversary!!!

Justin said...

That is such a cool story! I love it when wedding bands and jewelry have such special meaning. My mom's wedding ring has five stones in it and it turned out that she had five children. We laugh about that because my ring on the other hand has eleven stones and I do not see us having eleven children!

Jessica said...

Sorry, that last comment about the rings was from me. I didn't realize I was signed in to my husbands account.

Mallory said...

Oh, I LOVE the story about your rings! Happy anniversary, and an eternity more of happiness! Rings are pretty much the only jewelry I wear (my wedding ring on the left hand, my CTR ring on the right). I would love to eventually get a mother's ring, but I'm sure I would end up having to get a ring that has stones going all the way around, because I want that many!

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