Ice, Ice Baby!

Oct 17, 2009

They say that diamonds are a girl's best friend.  Actually, my husband is my very best friend  and, having never been into fancy jewelry, I never really understood this phrase . . . until now. 

A few years ago, I lost my precious engagement ring and 5-yr anniversary band during a chaotic time of massive construction in my house.  I had stopped wearing the rings because they had gotten too snug around my fingers to wear comfortably everyday.  Regardless of whether they were stolen or simply misplaced, I have felt so saddened by the loss of something so important to me - not only because of the financial value of the rings, but also because of their sentimental value.

This year, my husband and I celebrated our 15th year wedding anniversary.  After looking around quite a bit, I found an anniversary band at Tiffany's that I fell in love with.  I could not believe when they measured my ring size how small my fingers had gotten!  No wonder that my wedding band, which was my last piece of good jewelry, was so loose on me.  It made me even more sad to think of the rings that I lost that would have actually fit on me now .

We definitely splurged big time on this ring, but there was so much emotion tied to it that we suspended all practicality for a moment.  The fact that I had lost my other rings, there were marriages around us breaking up out of the blue, and my husband and I had both lost a considerable amount of weight (which made us realize just how far we had drifted from our youthful bodies), made this ring a symbol of our journey together.  So, although the economic side of my brain was telling me to put the money from my recent sale of company stock towards paying down a good chunk of the mortgage, my emotional side was nagging at me to use the money for something completely experiential.  Hey, at least it wasn't a depreciating asset like a new car, right?

Wow, I have definitely changed a lot since being banded last December.  I find that I am living life so much more fully than I was before and that I am enjoying more of the present vs. waiting and saving to enjoy something potentially in the future.  I am so thankful for making the decision to do something about my weight - it has made more of a difference in my life than I ever would have thought.  Now, I look forward to enjoying life with both my internal band and my new external band!!

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