Lost and (so far not) found

This past January, I lost my wedding ring. I loved this ring, so that even when it didn’t fit on my ring finger anymore (ahem, those pesky baby pounds that just never came off darn it), I wore it on my pinky. Now keep in mind that I wore the ring on my pinky from the time I was pregnant with Hannah (who is now 4 ½) until I lost the ring. I was used to wearing it on that finger and was comfortable with it there.

January 15^th was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and I had the day off. So, of course, I was all over town running errands. Becca and I went to pick up the girls’ photos at JC Penney (at the mall across town since the JCP at the mall close to us doesn’t have a portrait studio). We stopped at Party City to get party supplies for Becca’s 1^st birthday party. I stopped and filled the van with gas. Then we met Ron, Abby and Hannah over in the Barnes & Noble at the other mall (Ron had taken the big girls to a movie at that mall), walking through the mall to get to B&N and back. Then we headed to McDonalds for dinner.

It was while I was walking into McDonalds that I noticed that my ring was gone. When (and where) it vanished, I still have no idea. I searched our van and around it in the McDonalds parking lot (as much as I could search through snow and slush). I went back later that night to Barnes & Noble and searched through the bathroom garbage dispenser where I’d tossed Becca’s dirty diaper that I’d changed there earlier (not the most fun I’ve ever had). I called every store I’d been at. Nothing. For the first week or two, I felt optimistic that the ring would turn up – either in our van or someone would turn it in and I’d get a phone call. Nothing. Then I thought well maybe it’s buried under snow somewhere so maybe once the snow melts in the spring, it might turn up. Nothing. And still, 5 months later – nothing. I’ve read the ‘Lost and Found’ ads every week, although I never placed my own since trying to describe where the ring might have been lost would’ve been way too difficult. I called the stores back after a couple of weeks just to make sure they still had my contact information. I searched through our van several times. I still have no idea where the ring came off, although I tend to believe that it must’ve been shortly before I noticed it was missing, because I think I would’ve noticed it earlier if it had fallen off earlier.

So as our anniversary approached last month, I started to drop hints to Ron about maybe replacing it. Not that I want a new ring – I want the ring that he put on my finger when he proposed (which is another great story that I’ll save for a future day) and that he added the band to on our wedding day. It wasn’t a huge diamond or a terribly glitzy ring – but it was mine and I loved it. And I miss it. Not to mention that walking around with 3 kids and a bare left hand is an odd feeling, at least to me.

We did go to the jewelry store on our anniversary and looked at rings. We have to use one particular store that we have an account at (which was opened when he bought the original ring over 8 years ago) since neither paying for a ring outright nor opening another credit account are feasible options right now. I have this problem where I don’t want just a plain, cheap band or something ‘less’ than what I had before. Something comparable would be nice – I don’t really need anything bigger/flashier. Unfortunately, my husband seems to have forgotten how much the original ring cost him and was facing some major sticker shock – although I’m not sure exactly what he was expecting to spend since the cost of the ring that I liked was not only comparable to the original, but quite a bargain I thought. However, he has a point that an extra $60 a month is an expense that we don’t need right now. Which is true, so I’ve let it go for the moment. I keep hoping that he’ll just surprise me with it (again, I’ll go into our proposal story sometime soon since you have to understand that I have reason to think that he might attempt a surprise of some sort). But – nothing. I really shouldn’t complain, I know. Not having a wedding ring is a pretty minor complaint as far as things go. Part of it is that I’m still angry with myself for losing my original ring in the first place. And hey – what girl doesn’t want a sparkly diamond, right? Even a small one. So now that I’ve vented here, I can continue to let it go and find other things to worry and stress over. And I promise I’ll share our proposal story soon – it’s a good one.