Past, Present and Future.........

During David's recent port visit to San Diego,

he stumbled upon this ring in a jewelry store.

He said that when he first laid eyes on it

he thought of me.

He knows I like things that are a little bit unique,

has some character to it,

is representative of something personal to me

and tells a story.

This ring reminds me of my original wedding ring

which has grown thin

and has lost two accent diamonds over the years.

That ring had one center marquis stone

much like the three in my new ring.

He bought the ring in San Diego

and had it sized and shipped

to a jewelry store here in Washington.

It was important that I go pick it up and try it on

before the window to return it for a full refund closed

in case I didn't like it.

Unfortunately, that window would close

before David would return from deployment,

so he wasn't able to see my face when I saw it.

I think I actually squealed right there

in the jewelry store!

I thought it was so beautiful

and I was so proud of him

for doing such a great job of picking it out!

For me,

the three center marquis stones

represent past, present and future

or in my words,

learning from the past,

embracing the present

and anticipating the future.

See, told you I like things with a story!

Here's another fun story:

Since I had not seen the ring

before I went to pick it up

and was only relying on David's description of it,

I decided to use that situation to my advantage.

I picked up a ridiculous fake ring at the Mall

and planned to convince him

that this was the ring I received from the jewelry store.

We had spoken on the phone several times

and I kept telling him how big the ring was

and how I was not used to wearing something so large on my finger.

I was trying to play up the hugeness of the imposter ring

so he'd buy my story.

When we went to pick him up last week,

I flashed my big fancy fake ring at him

and asked him if he liked it.

He wasn't buying it.

I stuck with it though

and asked him if it looked different on my finger

than it did in the store.

Not at all falling for it,

he kept asking where the real ring was.

I think I had him for half a second

when I told him that we needed to go back by the jewelry store

and find out what happened.

For the first time I saw a bit of worry in his eyes

and He said,"Are you serious?!"

I couldn't hold it together any longer

so I just started laughing

and handed him the black velvet ring box

which held the real ring that he had chosen for me.

He slipped it on my finger

as I sat there grinning ear to ear

like a giddy school girl.

You know,

he gets to display all these shiny medals,

bars and awards on his uniform

so that everyone can see how awesome he is at his job.

It feels great that he wanted me

to be able to display something shiny and beautiful

on my finger to show the world

how much I am loved.

My mom says

that every man wants to be able to put a big, dazzling ring

on his girl's finger.

I think she's right,

but I also remember feeling very proud

of the tiny little marquis

in my original wedding ring.

That wedding ring was representative

of our tiny little idealistic view of our life together.

Our love was true,

but our life together had just begun

and was untested.

Everything was fresh and new

and could all fit in that little marquis.

But now, after almost 17 years,

we've experienced so much more of our lives together.

That same love has grown deeper.

It's been tested by disappointment,

conflict, struggles,

deployments,

collicky newborns,

two year olds,

boisterous kids,

and teenagers

and has come out bigger, shinier

and more dazzling!

Thanks sweetheart

for picking out a ring that is

so perfectly representative of our love story!

I love you,

past, present and future!