The Love Story Behind my Engagement Ring

My engagement ring, in its original state, is 94 years old. I have no idea about the history behind my beautiful ring, for it came from the estate section in a little antique store in Houston, TX where Colm and I picked it out together. I have always had an old soul and am in love with antique jewelry, especially that of the art deco era. When I saw my ring, circa 1920, staring back at me, I knew it was for me. Colm looked at me and asked, incredulously, Are you sure you want a dead persons ring around your nger the rest of your life? I laughed, and knew that right then and there, our marriage would be full of dry humor, love and pain, all mixed into one beautiful package. And yes, for the past 14 years, the ongoing joke has been that Im wearing a dead persons jewelry (including my wedding band that I picked out separately from the same antique store, and then later my anniversary ring - all from the 1920s). I sometimes imagine what kind of history my ring withholds, before it became ours. I hope that it came from a happy and long marriage, but we will never know, and so it is up to us to make our marriage happy and long, as long as it remains on my nger. Of course, while Im making myself out to sound sentimental and overly righteous, I am also a woman who loves beautiful things. And over the years, my sweet little 1/2 carat engagement ring started to look... small. Perhaps its because of the monstrous events that have taken place in our life, or perhaps its just because Im shallow. But no doubt about it, I have been wanting to upgrade to a larger diamond for quite some time now. Colm was not thrilled about the idea and made it clear to me in the beginning. But one evening a couple months ago on a beautiful crisp evening, we were sitting alone together outside of our favorite ice cream store in Raleigh, sharing a scoop of hazelnut gelato. He glanced at my ring, did a double-take, and said, Is that the original engagement ring I gave you? I scoffed at him, Um, yes dear, yes its the original engagement ring you and I picked out together 14 years ago. He grabbed my hand, inspected my nger in all different directions and said, But its so small! Were going to have to take care of that. I burst out laughing. Thats my Chu-Cho for you, only until he realizes something on his own and it becomes his idea. The following week he surprised me by taking me and two of our beautiful children (who were in on the surprise) into Baileys. I had talked to other jewelers in the past about reconstructing my ring, and several said they wouldnt touch it, it was too old, and they were afraid it would fall apart if they did anything too radical. But Baileys is known for their world-renown jewelers and the lady helping us brought Rich out to talk with us about my ring. After discussing the pros and cons of either upgrading my ring with a larger center stone, or replacing the ring all together, Colm left the decision in my hands. I stood there, with Colm, Rich and the sales lady staring back at me, and I burst into tears. I was mortied. But there was my answer, with no words necessary. How could I possibly replace my engagement ring for a new one? For 14 years, we had given this ring a new home. This ring had been wrapped around my nger as I vowed to spend the rest of my life with my true love. It had been wrapped around my nger while we brought 3 beautiful children into this world. It had been wrapped around my nger while we heard the words that our daughter has albinism and may not be able to ever see past her ngertips. It had been wrapped around my nger while we heard the crushing words that my second-born has autism and will never be able to live an independent life. It had been wrapped around my nger while we struggled through a difcult time in our marriage when neither of us knew if we were going to make it. It had been wrapped around my nger while we held our breaths to see if our third and last

child would be faced with the challenges of our other children, and it had been wrapped around my nger when we realized that he would be the glue that holds our family together. But through it all, it has been wrapped around my nger while we have patched together beautiful, painful, sweet, chaotic memories of a family that will always, no matter what, love each other and be there for one another. Our daughter is seeing well enough to one day even be able to drive, thanks to her own strength and determination. And our middle child, while he will never be fully independent... well, I have found my lifes calling through my son and am creating something wonderful and hopeful through his diagnosis. Replace my ring with a new one, only to have to start all over? Nope, no way, no how. So I took off my engagement ring for the rst time in 14 years, gingerly handed it over to Rich, alongside a sparkling new cushion cut diamond, and walked out of Baileys feeling... strange. A mixture of excitement, guilt and shame. What was I doing? There are people dying in this world of starvation, people who could pull themselves out of a lifetime of debt with the money we just laid down on a glittery piece of carbon. But we had made the decision to do this and so I carried onward. When I got the call from Rich that my ring was ready, I walked in to pick it up and when I saw my new ring, I burst into tears again. Rich had breathed life into my old engagement ring. He had xed the old aws where it was weak, he had replaced a chipped side diamond, and the center stone - oh the center stone. There is no way I can possibly capture the beauty of my ring on camera, I have tried and failed... the glittery effect, the movement, the way the light catches it. But I am in love with my old ring again and I cant stop looking at it. And though I will forever have mixed emotions about the upgrade, for me, this ring has taken a life of its own. And even though its only just a combination of carbon and platinum, it has made its imprint on me and and our family has made an imprint on it, and it will forever remain on my nger until I can pass it down to my own daughter or son. Thank you, Rich, for reinvigorating what I always knew was there. And thank you, Chu-Cho, for being you.