Sunday, January 04, 2009

Lost: One Silver Wedding Band

I was going over the Edit Posts of my Blogger Account and came across this little item I had forgotten to post back in early November. So much was happening around that time it got lost in the shuffle but I decided to update it and post it now, if for nothing else the name of the Saint being commemorated on that day. Sort of a New Year's clean up project.

My Wedding BandBack in 1990 when Laurent was living in Cairo we made one of our many trips down to the Khan Kalili Market. There was one shop we went to often - owned by the sister of my sister-in-law's boyfriend - sometimes just to chat and drink tea and occasionally to buy. She had beautiful objects and jewelery. At that point we had been together for 12 years and decided that it was time we wore some type of sign of that commitment.

On tour in EgyptLaurent choose a simple six strand gold puzzle ring and because I have a problem wearing gold I choose a three strand silver one. We left them to be sized and polished. A week later we went back with our friends Jean Paul and Diane to pick them up. Afterwards we went out to lunch at the Mena House Oberoi near Giza and I remember Diane asking why mine wasn't gold.

Funny how I remember that but on Saturday I couldn't remember where I had put my ring. It has been missing now for over five days. I only take the ring off when I do dishes or when I go to bed at night. I have a nightly ritual - first the watch, then the ring, then the glasses and they all go on the bedside table. Saturday morning my glasses were on the bedside table, the watch was on the dresser but the ring was nowhere in sight. After a full week at work I was exhausted and had obviously broken my routine. It can't have slipped off as I noticed just the other day that it only came off with difficulty. A search of the house, the office, even a check at the restaurant we went to on Friday night has turned up nothing.

Rather than buy new rings when we were married back in 2007 we decided just to have our old ones cleaned up. We had wore them all that time and they meant more than anything new would have.

I'm heart-sick about it - I've worn that ring for 18 years and without it my finger feels empty. Laurent has been very understanding but I know he's as upset as I am. He suggested the other day that maybe it was time for a new ring but like a baby I pouted that I'd didn't want a ring I wanted my ring.

12 novembre - San Giosafat Kuncewycz

I'm happy to say I found the ring a day or two later. It was amongst some t-shirts that had been on the dresser and that I, in an uncharacteristic moment of tidiness, had put in their drawer. There was much rejoicing on Via dei Villini that morning and I've now learned not to put clothes away.

And the gentleman in the picture would be Laurent and I with our best friends Rick and John at Philae the Horus temple on Edfu on our Nile cruise that year.

04 gennaio - Sant'Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton

7 comments:

flipstinger said...

glad you found it....after all it's got a huge sentimental value.

your pic...i remember that place...i've been there! Horus temple in Edfu...brings back memories! =)

Doralong said...

I'm so glad you found it! I lost mine once for two days and it was more upsetting than I would have imagined- after having it on that hand for 25 years I somehow felt quite naked. Odd, isn't it how we can become such creatures of habit.

Elizabeth said...

Oh goodness! I'd be devastated if I lost my ring. Somehow those inanimate objects we wear without thinking about, through all the times, good and bad, take on a quiet power of symbolism and witness. I'm so glad you found it, and I have often regretted putting things away as it often turns out badly! Let that be a lesson to you, young man, to be less tidy in the coming year.

Sling said...

I'm so pleased that you found your ring!
..and I'm happy you learned your lesson about tidying up.It can only lead to disaster.

Willym said...

Flip: you are so right - I got it confused with Philae.. duh... don't like this getting old thing I'm forgetting stuff.

evilganome said...

I'm so glad you found your ring. In the unlikely event that I ever find anyone stupid enough to marry me, I doubt I would ever be persuaded to take it off, since I lose small items, like my mind, on a regular basis.

Anonymous said...

Glad you found your ring too; but, seeing old pictures reminds us that we wonder where the dark hair went. Also were we ever that young and handsome. I know we have aged and mellowed like an old cheese.