Anniversary Gift

When Joe and I got engaged 14 years ago, he bought me a beautiful ring.  A gorgeous diamond solitaire in a dainty gold setting.  It was perfect.  I loved it.  The proposal was a complete surprise, and he picked out the prettiest and most perfect ring.

And then, about six months after he gave it to me, it got stolen.  I was crushed.  It was my fault, I accidentally left it at the gym and in the two minutes I turned my back on it, it was gone.  Ugh.  What a horrible feeling.  And there was no way we could afford to replace it.  And no, it wasn't insured.  Yeah, dumb us.  We know.  Lesson learned.

At the time, Joe and I were stationed apart.  I was in Worcester, MA and he was in New Orleans, LA.  He sent me out to pick out a new ring, and I half-heartedly picked out a new one.  It was pretty, but it was never the same, because the sentiment was different.  I knew he had picked up an extra job to pay for the first ring, and he took the time to pick it out, and I loved it.  And it was my fault that it was stolen, and I was so upset for such a long time.  14 years later, I still feel horrible, although we never speak of it anymore and he probably has no idea it ever bothered me so much.  But every time I looked at the replacement ring, I remembered.  And sometimes I felt jinxed.  The theft of the ring was only the beginning of a very rough time in our lives.   Our wedding itself was a disaster.  Joe's ex-wife made a point of calling their kids the morning of our wedding and intentionally getting them so upset about it that they both cried loudly throughout the entire ceremony and promptly told me they hated me immediately thereafter.  The weather was horrible, the thunder and lightning was so loud that it was a complete distraction, and we both seriously wondered it we were doomed.  It was a mess.  And needless to say, things got much worse before they got better. The first two  years of our marriage was complete hell.  The only thing that carried us through was Joe's strength.   He carried a terrible burden for a very long time, and I still don't understand how he did it, but I'm so grateful he did.  I love that man more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone.  

Last year, I simply got tired of looking at the "replacement ring".  Every time I looked at it I kept remembering the bad things that happened after the first ring was stolen.  I asked Joe if he would get me an anniversary band for our tenth wedding anniversary and I told him I would wear that instead of my set.   So I started ring shopping, and this is what I ended up with:

   

The ring is an antique setting with fishtail prongs common in the 1930's.  The prongs in that era were designed to enhance the size of the stone to make it look larger, since money was tight and large stones were uncommon during the 30's.  We purchased the 2.40 carat sapphire separately and had it sent off to be set in the ring.  There is a matching gold band, and we also purchased an anniversary band to add a little bling to the whole set.  I am so happy with this ring set, I love it so much.  And, I happen to be one of the cheapest people on the planet, and I pride myself on that these days, so to set the record straight... It took me months to find the right setting and the right stone, and pick out the band because I refused to shell out big money for it.  In the end, I'm extremely proud to report that this new set cost LESS (nearly half the cost) than my original replacement set.  I wish I had a nice romantic story to tell about how he gave it to me, but he was out of town when it came in and I was too impatient to wait so I ripped it open and gave it to myself. 

Thank you to my dear sweet husband, for carrying us through the darkness and into the light, and for this beautiful home and family that we have.  We both know that if it weren't for your strength that we wouldn't be here today and I love you more than anything in the world.