Ring Around My Fat Finger
In the past few weeks my hands have started to swell pretty badly and almost every day. Its gotten to the point now where if it happens and I am still wearing my wedding and engagement rings, they get stuck. Chris keeps getting on to me saying that I need to stop wearing the rings or else he’s going to have to cut them off of me one day. I compromised and am now only wearing my wedding band.
I love my wedding band. It wasn’t actually the one I picked out when we got engaged. The one I picked out was much cheaper. Just a band. But on the night before our wedding, Chris gave me a small box and inside was this beautiful platnum band with small diamonds. It matched my engagement ring and it was gorgeous.
So, I love my wedding band. No question about it. But more than the band, I adore my engagement ring. It isn’t big. It isn’t something flashy. It won’t stop traffic. It is just a single solitare square cut diamond, small but beautiful. I love that ring because I know that Chris saved money for it while he was a poor college student. He kept the money hidden in a picture frame behind a picture of me. I love that. And I love that ring because of the day that he gave it to me.
Have I told you about how we got engaged? Its a pretty great story. When we were juniors in college, Chris and I went on a trip to New York together at Christmastime. I had begged the entire trip for us to go ice skating in Rockefellar Center, right in front of the big tree. But Chris kept putting it off and putting it off. One night after we went to see the Rockettes in Radio City, Chris asked if I wanted to walk over to Rockefellar Center and finally go ice skating.
So, we’re skating around in front of the big tree and the lights are twinkling and Christmas music is playing and there are a million people milling around, and all of a sudden Chris stops skating. Right there in front of the big tree. And he gets down on one knee. And I cry. And he asks if I’ll marry him. And I say yes. And we both cry. And then I fall down (cause I’m on ice skates, remember…).
I loved my ring from that moment on. We went back to our hotel room that night with a case of beer and a bag of pretzels, and we stayed up all night talking about weddings and marriage and, of course, my ring.
(This is a picture of me telling Chris that from now on, my ring will be front and center in pictures.)
The very next day, I bought my first wedding magazine and began plotting planning our wedding. And, once again, my ring was front and center.
And that was the beginning of my love affair with my engagement ring. I was hooked from then. But its not the ring itself that hooked me. I’m not bummed right now because I can’t wear a diamond ring on my finger. It was more about what that ring meant at the time that Chris gave it to me.
When we got engaged, I was waiting to hear from law schools, he was floating around trying to decide what to do after graduation. We didn’t know where we’d end up or even if we’d end up there together. There were so many questions out there, so many obstacles, and it probably would have been easier for us to figure out our paths separately. But when Chris gave me that ring, things just clicked into place for us. We still had a million unanswered questions about how it would practically work out, but we knew that however things ended up, we’d be together. And that’s why I love that ring.
And that’s why it is so hard for me to not wear it right now. Because we are sort of back in that limbo phase. Now, we are waiting for a baby, waiting on job opportunities, waiting to see how our lives will change yet again. And being able to look down at that ring and just know that everything will click into place exactly how it is meant to be was very comforting to me.
I’ve been without my ring for about a week now. And you know what? I don’t need it. I’m doing fine without it. I guess its because I just know things are working out how they are supposed to – whether I’m wearing that ring or not. And that’s a pretty good feeling.
But I can guarantee you that the minute that baby is out of my belly, I’m putting my pretty diamond back on my finger. Every girl loves a little sparkle…
15 Comments
Davis
thanks for the great and happy story
Ginny
Per our conversation yesterday — a very inspiring post. Thanks!
Kate
My husband proposed while I was still running shows and so I couldn’t wear my ring at work. Enter necklace chain SR! It wasn’t the same as being on my finger, but feeling the weight of it on my chest was reassuring, confirming that I hadn’t lost it. Might I suggest a chain for you? Then, maybe after the baby’s born, you can find a fun pendant to go on the chain.
Meryn
Thanks for making my cry at work. Thanks. A. Lot.
That was really awesome though. Thanks for sharing.
psa37
aww, lovely story.
Who took the photos of the proposal?
Lori
Aaron gave me a ring knowing that as a scenic artist that engagement ring would spend more time in the pocket of my Carhartt’s than on my finger. I only wear my engagement ring when I am not at work–but I wear my wedding band all the time.
And now my wedding band acts like a swell-o-meter: I can tell how swollen I am getting by how little it moves on my finger!
chloe86
I love this post! 🙂
… who took these photos?
Chloe
http://chloe86.wordpress.com
Chris had a friend hide and video tape the entire thing. I didn’t know about it until a few weeks later when he gave me a DVD of our entire engagement. I still watch that video all the time!! – Katie
Glamorous Life of a Housewife
I have to admit that I LOL’ed when I clicked on your page and saw your hand and nothing but your hand. Caught me off guard and I laughed. Anyway, my fingers swell sometimes too – especially if I am hot. My wedding band is bigger than my engagement ring so I may have to pull a you and sport my wedding band around. Anytime I forget my ring, I cringe because I just KNOW that people see my belly, look directly at my left hand ring finger, see a ring is not there and assume that I am a pregnant teen. Paranoid? Yes.
sugardaddydating
great story to read, thx for sharing…:)
Libby
Katie,
Lovely blog, I love that story! Especially the pretzels. Pretzels are awesome.
Anyway I saw this OTHER great blog I thought you’d probably like too,
http://pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com/search/label/belly%20pictures
It a photographer husband documenting his wife’s pregnancy. Really cool
moderncranberry
I completely understand. I don’t think I will ever love my wedding band as much as I love my engagement ring. I’m constantly terrified something is going to happen to it, even if it’s years down the road. I’d be heartbroken.
Camille
So sweet—much more lovely than our engagement story! I wish I had pictures of the day we got engaged…
shionge
I swell like a big elephant so yep…wise to take off the ring until the arrival of baby.
I missed out so much here Katie..sorry about that and I can’t wait for the arrival of Baby Michael.
Hmmm….time to drop an email to your Grandma Louise 😀
Take care and have fun & soak in all the pampers now because once baby is here….you’ll all be pampering him 😀
Big Hugs!!
Betty (aka Shionge)
Singapore