My Mother's Ring

So, the diamond fell out of my mother's wedding ring yesterday. At some point during the day, it just popped out. Maybe 1/3 to a half carat, probably bought by my father in the 50's. When my mother died, I got her ring. I liked it but it was a bit dated. One big diamond with six small ones. It looked like an old wedding ring. What I liked about it was that the inside of the band had touched her skin. I could wear it and it was my skin touching the same cool, metal surface her skin had touched. It was a sentimental thing. But I liked the diamond too. It was a nice one, and I don't have many diamonds around the house. Plus, I thought if I was destitute, I could get a bit for it.  I knew if I was ever destitute, my mom would first say, "What in the world have you done," followed by "Sell my ring." 

So, I've worn it on my right hand for several years, twisting it, switching fingers, turning it so the stones faced my palm. It was my little lovely worry stone. Last night, as I was about to stop playing Words With Friends and turn off the light, the ring caught on the comforter. I looked at it and saw the diamond was gone. I had been all over town; eating, grocery shopping, went by the Community College, and did lawn work. I was a bit stunned when I saw the hole where the stone had been. I got up, ran my hand all over the comforter, and took off the ring. It looked wrong. I put it on the bathroom counter. I went to bed. I just knew I would never find it. 

And I did not find it. I got up today and remembered the diamond was gone. I thought about it. It was ruined. I looked at it. I left it on the counter. I made coffee and went to touch the ring, but it wasn't on my finger. I walked into the bathroom and picked it up. It still had the smooth band, and my mom had worn it all those years probably not even noticing the diamond so much. She just wore it because it meant that she and my dad were together. I put it back on. I might Superglue a cubic zirconia in there, or a cool bead. It's still my mom's ring on my finger. I know I'll never find the diamond. It's tiny, and could be anywhere. I like to think someone found it who was destitute outside Walmart. Or that it's brightening up a tiny mouse nest in our garage after it fell out and careened across the floor and under one of the many boxes against the wall. Actually, It probably just swirled down the drain last night as I drained the bathtub. I suppose now I just have to keep myself from being destitute, as my fallback plan is gone :)


I know this has nothing to do with the epic road trip. All that story means is things happen every day that, in a year or two, we forget about. And so many things have happened in mine and my son's life over the last few years that I have not written about. And I haven't forgotten them yet, but I will. When Jay was seven, I started a blog, oneyearofopus, and for four years I wrote stuff down. Everyday things, big things, trips, parties, the county fair. It was the best thing I ever did. I made it into a book. Now I have it. I started another blog three years ago, wonderbumble, that will take you two minutes to read in its entirety. And there was a road trip two years ago that Jay and I blogged, travellogwithjillandjay, and that one is wonderful and fun. But I have missed writing about his first day driving, his middle school years, his first day of high school and his sixteenth birthday. I didn't write about the trip we took to California and the train trips to Kansas and when he started playing tennis. So now I'll always remember when the diamond fell out of my mom's ring, and how the diamond didn't even matter. It's the ring that was important. And now, with Jay and I both writing, we'll remember the epic road trip that we're still just imagining, but that someday we'll have lived it and just have the memory. But it will be written down, with pictures, and people, and maybe even a few stories about the things I didn't write about over the past five years. Here's to the next 35 days! --- jill.