Symbolic

Symbolic                                           October, 2019

Cindi bought the ring for me on November 7, 1974. It went missing on October 10, 2019. I had been wearing that wedding band for 44 years, 11 months and 2 days.  It must be here in the house somewhere, but it is possible that it slid off my finger while emptying the trash.

My ring finger is the fourth one that has started popping when I close it up.  A shot of cortisone fixed the other three, and I have been putting off that painful procedure as long as I can.  When it began throbbing, I shifted the ring to the pinkie on my right hand.  It fit that finger loosely, but I really felt naked without it.  So I kept wearing it in that odd place. Slipping it off while doing something with that hand became a usual pattern.  Having it fall off had not happened at all.

Of course,  the ring is only symbolic of our vows, taken all those years ago in the little chapel in London.  There have been many trials during the years, but those challenges never made me think that I would take the ring off on purpose and walk away from both.  When you have love for another person, the symbol becomes less important. Love changes with all the shared joys and yes, even the shared trials which you have managed to survive together.

The ring may be gone, but the relationship endures.  The one who gave it to me is still at the center of my life.  The love is still there.  That is what matters.