For the past couple of weeks, I have worn my wedding ring with a slit in the shank. My ring has recently had a one-on-one with the jeweler and as a result, I’m now ‘in-the-know’ about all things ring related.
Less than one month after we were married, my husband and I took our church’s youth group on a missions trip. While there, the love-struck teenage girls fancied that one of the youth sponsors had struck up a relationship with a man she had just met. I brilliantly(?) concocted a plan for a little practical joke. I lent the lady my engagement ring with hopes of announcing to the the googly-eyed teens, in grandiose fashion, that the man had proposed! And she had accepted! It was a great joke. The girls bought the story hook, line, and sinker–and screamed as only as high school girls have the capability of screaming.
Well, then the joke was on us. It got stuck on her finger. Nothing would get that thing off…we tried soap, oil, string tourniquet, water, ice, elevation, a night’s sleep, YOU NAME IT. That ring was not budging and the lady wanted the ring off of her finger! A trip to the emergency room and a little snip snip, and my ring looked like something like you’d buy out of a $.25 machine–A ring with a slit right down the backside.
And, LOVE HIS SOUL… Wanna know my patient husband’s response to the whole fiasco:? “I understand Maren. It’s just you.” Probably one of the first few clues as to the extent of the mess (me) he’d gotten himself into. And one of my first clues to the extent of my dear husband’s patience.
Thankfully, the jeweler appreciated my joke and soldered my ring for free. And for nine years, I’ve enjoyed a good story and life’s merriment. Until last week. I suppose 9 years of abuse caused it to split again, and so I hiked my split shank and little ‘ole me back to a jeweler. In 30 minutes, the ring was fixed, polished, and once again pretty! Special thanks to Fast-fix in Louisville, KY for helping me (and my ring) feel whole again! WHOOTWOOT!
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*Object in the picture is smaller than it appears. 🙂
** Before you ask, I have large knuckles and those balls are ‘ring sizing balls,’ sit in the fat of my finger and keep it in place.
