Well, a couple of days later I told Jody what I was thinking. I told Jody that I thought we were meant to be together, that I thought I was in love with him and before long we were planning on getting married.
Jody called my parents and let them know we were going to get engaged. He knew they were holding an engagement ring from my father’s mother, my grandmother, and he wanted to know if he could use it to propose to me. This is the grandmother I moved to West Palm Beach to be closer to before she died, and Jody came along to be with me.
Jody knew it would mean a lot to me to have that as my engagement ring. My grandmother wanted to pass the ring down to me or my sister. It is a simple ring, a single solitaire. Jody took it to a jeweler to get it re-sized and reset. It was there that he found out that the stone was fractured down in the middle of the diamond. He asked me again if I still wanted the ring even though it was fractured. I said “absolutely”. So, the jewelers got to work putting the diamond in a setting that would protect the diamond.
A few weeks later Jody and I went up to Disney for a weekend away and Jody proposed to me on the Disney Boardwalk in the Flying Fish restaurant. It was a totally romantic moment. Jody just leaned over at the table and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I had no doubt I wanted to be married to him. I said I do, and the celebrating began!
I hadn’t seen ring since it had been on my grandmother’s finger, but when he put it on mine I just knew it was something I would treasure forever. When I look at that ring I am reminded of my grandparents. They took care of me when I was a baby until my dad got remarried. I also think of my grandmother and how she was always wonderful to me. If I look really hard I can see the fracture in the center of the diamond, and I am reminded of how life is not so perfect. But, that’s ok. No one expects life to be perfect. We all have our little flaws.
Jody will be the first to tell you I am not much of a jewelry kind of girl. But, that ring means more to me than any other piece of jewelry I own. It is a reminder of someone I loved very much, my grandmother. It is a reminder of the love I have now, Jody. And, it is also a reminder of my daughter, Jaime because one day I plan on passing it down to her. I know she will also be able to see past the fractured diamond and be able to see the real beauty of that ring because beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
And there are lines upon my face,
From a life time of smiles.
When the time comes to embrace
For one long last wine.
We can laugh about how time really flies
We won't say goodbye
'Cause true love never dies.
You'll always be beautiful in my eyes...
You will always be beautiful in my eyes
And the passing is the show
That you will always grow
Ever more beautiful in my eyes.
-Joshua Kadison
5 days and counting!