Picking the Wrong Ring

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Saw this article today and it made me smile. What happens when you give a ring to your true love and she doesn’t like it?

Now the idea of giving a ring as a sign of affection has been around forever and us guys get it, but what we choose to offer may not be the ring she is expecting. Hey, we don’t know, we are just trying to do the right thing.

The reason this story made me smile was from my own experience and so the story goes like this.

After several years of sharing space and time swapping gifts of cute and cuddly hints of feelings toward one and another the time had come to make the commitment to the commonwealth recognized by law that we would stay together under the same roof legally.

And as a symbol of this union a ring is required.

At first, I had been wearing my first wedding ring only to show that I had been taken, but that is really not a good sign for a new relationship and I understood that.

So for the ceremony in a foreign living room among strangers, a simple silver ring was placed on fingers. For a guy, this seemed good enough, but there was more.

The talk of a “diamond” kept popping up through the months, so I knew there was a bigger purchase to be made, so one day while walking through a jewelry store that was going out of business I noticed she was looking at diamond rings. “What do you like?” I asked casually. She pointed out one and walked on, fully knowing that it could not be purchased and she would never wear it.

(Sly note to other guys: Pay attention!)

I caught the eye of the employee behind the display, pointed out the ring in question, and had them hold it for me. For some unknown reason, I had the money at the time, so I went back and purchased the ring she had indicated she liked. Man, I was so proud, but how would I present it to her? She already was wearing that silver band.

So Christmas time was coming around and we were purchasing gifts for each other and secretly wrapping them and putting them under a little tree, but I had a special surprise.

On Christmas morning, after coffee and smiles, we started to unwrap the packages. Scarves and gloves to keep us warm from the winter chill, books to entertain each other on the dark nights and a few critter treats. So I watched as the presents were unwrapped and the paper laid aside and the hugs and kisses were exchanged while the kittens rustled in the leftovers. Then she opened the second pair of wool gloves.

She smiled the appropriate smile of appreciation then the surprise filled her face as she felt a small package within the glove. She looked at me with a hushed astonishment then dove into the glove to pull out a tiny box. In astonishment she opened it to find the ring she had pointed out.

Lots of tears and laughter and I thought I had done the deed, but wait; there was more to come.

The ring was resized to fit her finger and in the process she had the ring examined and appraised. At some point, she mentioned it had a flaw in the diamond. What? I had picked up the ring she had chosen and it was wrong!

Besides, it did not come from the jeweler that her grandfather had worked at.

I was shooting blanks. I thought I had done the perfect expression of affection but came up empty handed. Even a failed attempt with a zirconium huge finger bling did not satisfy.

So it was back to the jeweler, the one her grandfather worked for, to find another ring. With the smile on the sales persons face I could tell they were not interested in trying to persuade me into a purchase of their valuable items in this fine establishment. When prompted about a diamond ring, he immediately showed me a ring that I could purchase if I sold my house, so we gauged down the price range to a nice solitaire that still cost a bundle, but I was on a mission. After watching the bankcard go “burp” I placed the blue box in my pocket and rode back home wondering how to present this surprise hoping this was the right one.

I forgot how I gave it to her, but she recognized the name on the box and whatever was inside must be wonderful. She later took it back to have it refitted and found out the worth of the little metal strap around her finger.

I don’t know if it was what she wanted but she wore it and never spoke of another diamond again. That is all a guy needs to feel he has accomplished his goal of satisfying her wants.

Later I was to get a call that her ring was to be retrieved on another trip downtown and then put into a box.