"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." - Ronald Reagan

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Lesson Learned

When the Man and I were first married and still in college, we went to a regional conference for newlyweds. It was held in university's basketball auditorium, which is huge. The conference was pretty full but we managed to find seats way up the cement steps in what would have been the cheap seats, if it were a game night.

There was a couple seated behind us and just to the side enough that I could see them out of the corner of my eye. The husband was playing with his wedding band. He wasn't just twisting it, he was flipping it around on his fingertip, using centrifugal force to keep it going. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to keep it on his finger. Within moments, we heard the distinct sound of metal clinking down the cement stairs. Uh oh...the wife was absolutely livid and soundly chastised him for being so careless. She was threatening to not replace the ring when we noticed a movement in the seats well below us. Slowly, row by row, a man's wedding band was handed up. You can be sure that his ring stayed firmly on his finger for the rest of the conference.

So why am I telling you this funny story? Because apparently, the Man doesn't like to learn from the mistakes of others. Last week, he was headed down into the basement and, while stomping down the stairs, twirled his wedding ring around his fingertip. And guess what? It went flying off, clunked down the dark stairway and then disappeared into the cardboard abyss that is our basement.

Uh oh.

Understandably, he was hesitant to tell me what had happened. But actually, I wasn't upset. It wasn't like he'd lost it in a public place; we knew where it was just not the specific location. Also, I wasn't entirely heartbroken because, well, I am an impulsive person and tend to make big decisions without much thought. So inscribed inside his wedding ring, instead of the usual initials or wedding date or "PUT ME BACK ON!", I put a rather odd phrase. In French, no less. Yeah. Kinda weird, as neither of us speak French or have been to France. So him losing his ring was really more like getting a re-do with the inscription thing.

In the following days, whenever he went downstairs, he would search another area, looking for his white gold band. Saturday, he disappeared into the basement again. I thought he was getting things ready to finish off the never-ending project of painting the living room (another post when I've had more chocolate). Nope. He was looking for his ring. And he found it. It wasn't where he thought it was, lost among the storage. It never made it that far. Our basement is unfinished so the stairs are just plain wood with a little gap to the side for carpet. The ring had fallen into that gap, which happened to not be entirely up to code and was partially open to the interior of the wall. He tried to dig it out but ended up nudging it the wrong way and plunk! The ring fell inside the wall. When he tried to explain this to me, ninety minutes later, covered in sweat, drywall dust, and insulation fibers, I didn't quite understand, so he took me downstairs and showed me what it took to get his ring out of the wall:


Wow! He really wanted that ring back! He must love me more than that tiny storage space underneath the stairs. So after he cleaned it well, the Man placed his ring firmly back on his finger. And there it stays.

12 comments:

Emma said...

MEN! They do the most thoughless things and then have to do so much work to fix them. Great story!

Caroline said...

Derrick lost his ring several years ago. In the yard, putting up Christmas cards no less. It was cold, he wasn't wearing gloves (like I told him to) and it just slipped off his hand. We never found it and I guess since we are closing on our house tomorrow, we never will. His was inscribed too :)

Kenney Crew said...

Todd has two wedding rings...let me explain. He has his healthy ring and his sick ring. Since he lost a lot of weight when he got sick and was sick for a long time, he stopped wearing his original inscribed ring so he wouldn't lose it...thoughtful, but I still wanted people to know that he's mine. So after a year or two without him wearing a ring, I got him another one, just like the first but 2 1/4 sizes smaller and not inscribed.

Amber said...

It could be worse- My brother lost his wedding ring scuba diving. Needless to say, he got a new ring.

Jan said...

The lost rings of the world always have a great story attached. That is why we don't wear any. I know. Horrible but true.

Nat said...

Wow! That is one determined guy! That is also sweet! I probably would have just thought "Oh well, he had it for longer than a lot of marriages last" and gotten him another one!

Kelly said...

Poor guy, at least he got it back. I have a beautiful necklace and matching ear rings from James Avery that he can come find for me. I know I had them in the box in our bedroom about 2 months ago. Can he come to Texas to find them? I miss them!

Jo said...

Aw, what a guy won't do to miss a scolding, I mean for love, of course! Hopefully he can put some of the determination into some honey do's!

Daisy said...

That's so funny! You know a woman would never do such a thing with her wedding ring!
But actually, I took my wedding ring off the day we went to get our engagement pictures taken, and forgot to put it back on before I left. So I had to stop by WalMart and get one of those fake rings just for the pictures! I haven't taken my ring off much since then!

AmShaZam said...

Jessica, I hope you don't mind that I've jumped on to your blog! I've heard so many people rave about it, so I'm looking for myself! I love the way you write- and that's a great ring story. Sadly, Jeff is one of those annoying types who spins his ring. It's only just a matter of time...

And guess what? I finished the first three Twilight books!

Debi said...

Mike took his wedding ring off once when he was working on the car out in the front driveway. Never even mentioned that he couldn't find it. One day a little neighbor boy came to our front with it in his hand, asking if it belonged to us. Seems he had had it in his bedroom on the dresser for a long time, when his mother questioned him about what and whose it was, he said he found it in front of our house. She made him come over to ask if it were ours....otherwise Mike wouldn't have known what happened to it. :)

Debi said...

Oh, and another thing....tell your husband that was a VERY clever save! :)

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