It Looks Good on My Finger!

This is a tale of sorrow, patience, faith and triumph!

Three days before Valentine's Day, I put my wedding ring in my pocket in order to put lotion on my hands.  I don't know how many times I've done this, but I know it is almost daily for the last several years.  I actually thought, "Maybe I should put it on the bathroom counter."  Spirit... I think yes!  But then I thought, "Nah, Nate and I are going out later and I don't want to forget it at home."  Not listening to the Spirit... I think yes!

So we are one our "date" which involved going to look at houses with our realtor and his wife then dinner.  I don't remember when I realized my ring was gone.  It could have been when we got to the realtor's house or it could have been after we saw the first house, but I told myself that I probably just put it on the bathroom counter after all. But when I got home, I saw it wasn't there and then I got nervous.

I looked all over the bathroom floor, I searched everywhere I sat after I put lotion on my hands, I searched the car, and I checked my pants pockets about 20 times (I even checked after I washed them, at least twice).  I was coming to the realization that it was gone... and I can't even explain how sad I was.  I was nearly in tears.  Then I told Nate it was gone.  He emailed the realtor and the realtor checked his car...no luck.  I also prayed a lot.  I prayed that I would find it.  After my prayer I felt calmer and it helped that Nate's reaction was supportive and not angry.  He said, "It's just a ring, it's not what matters."  And he was right.

I never gave up hope that I would find it... somewhere, maybe behind some furniture when we move or miraculously someone would find it and post it in the classified... so I scoured the internet for lost and found or even for someone selling it (in case they found it and tried to sell it).  I even thought about stalking the local pawn shops... there are a lot here, though.  We also took a trek to the house we looked at that night and looked all over their driveway, gutter and yard.

This would be a good time to give you a little history of my ring.

When Nate proposed, he did it with a gold CTR ring with two diamond chips.  It is a really pretty ring, and now fits on my pinkie ;)  After Nate proposed, I said yes and he graduated from UW, he went off to CA to start working on his Master's program and I stayed in WY to take some summer classes and plan the wedding.  While separate, and poor, we decided to get a JC Penney's credit card to buy our actual wedding rings.  He went to a Penneys in CA to look at rings and I looked at an ad for Penney's in anticipation of shopping at the store.  I found a ring set that I really liked which I was going to look at.  Nate called me and gave me the item number of a ring set he looked at and liked.  And what do you know?  It was the exact ring set I liked.  Spirit... I think yes!

So we purchased that set and have been wearing them since.  Also, a few years ago, we were thinking of putting in a new and slightly bigger diamond.  Okay, okay, I admit it, I was thinking about it.  Then my mom offered me the main diamond from her wedding band from her marriage to my dad.  It was a much better quality diamond than what we had and I was pretty sure it wasn't cursed (even though my parents divorced after 10 years of marriage when I was 5).  We did the swap and I've enjoyed having it.  Oh and Nate and I have been happily married for 12 1/2 years ;)

So you see how important this ring is to me.  It isn't the fanciest, biggest or shiniest, but it is MINE and it matches Nate's.  I still get choked up about losing it.

I knew that if we didn't find it, we'd have to replace it.  I just don't like the idea of going around without a wedding ring.  With all this hawtness and awesomeness, I didn't want to be picked up.  Okay, okay, just kidding... not that I want to be picked up... but, well you get it, right?  I just didn't want to have a naked ring finger, call me old fashioned.  So I went to Kohl's and picked up a sparkly, fake replacement for $8.  It looks real enough, but it just doesn't feel the same.

Fast forward 5 weeks to the day, and as I'm packing for our move, I open up our couch (it has a storage place underneath the seat) I start taking things out to sort and pack and there it is... sitting there... waiting for me to find it!  Now I promise you that I looked there, more than once and didn't see it.  WOW!  I was home alone, but I actually jumped up and down and said, out loud, "I found it!  I found it!"  Then I went to the computer, but before I updated FB or instant messaged Nate, I said a prayer of gratitude.  Because let's be honest, Heavenly Father didn't have to answer that prayer for me.  It wasn't life or death or even the biggest deal in the world, but it was a big deal to me!  And now I have my ring back and the thought makes me smile!

If only that ring could talk and tell me all about it's adventures, I'd love to know how it ended up there.

Oh Happy Day!