With This Ring, I Thee Wed

Nate and I have been married for 11 1/2 years. We dated 3 years before that. I remember picking out our rings. We were very young. I was 18 and Nate was 20 when we started to look at rings. At that time, neither of us knew anything about jewelry. Nate and I loved each other and we wanted to get married and to do that, you needed wedding rings! So we went to Service Merchandise. Anyone remember that store? Well that is where we bought our rings! Boy were they expensive, we thought.

As the years have gone by, we both have learned that there are higher and lower qualities in jewelry. At one point, we planned on buying new, better quality rings for each other. but after 4 children and just plain LIFE...we knew rings were just not in the budget. For being cheaper rings, they really have held up well. Especially since I have hardly ever taken them off!

After a recent visit to a jewelers to fix another ring, I saw a lady getting a ring cut off her finger. Her hand was so swollen! The emergency squad had to come over to cut it off. It got me to thinking about my wedding rings. They fit quite nicely in this little groove at the bottom of my finger, but getting them over my knuckle was really tough! So I decided to see what it would cost to get my rings sized and cleaned up.

The Jeweler said I have been lucky that I haven't lost my diamond. My prongs are all very loose and the back of the bands are wearing thin. The total cost to re-size and repair both rings was about fifty bucks less than what Nate bought them for in the first place! Again...not in the budget! I have been wedding ring-less now for about a month.

Next step? Not sure. Part of me wants to have our original rings restored. For sentimental sake. Those rings, though not what we would pick out now, represent a life changing chapter for us. The other part of me wants to pick out a new, unique set that fits who we are now and to see us through the rest of our lives together!

For now, I am ring-less. And that's okay. Besides, it's not a wedding ring, whether an expensive, Jewelry store ring, or a cheaper department store ring that makes a great marriage, it's who you are together with God at the head!