Yesterday morning I started on the to-do list I had created the night before. It has been cooler this weekend (in the 80's yesterday morning) and I thought it would be a good day to vacuum out both cars and sweep out and reorganize the garage. When I finished vacuuming the van, I went to start on Rob's car, but noticed he had some shoes and other things in there. I went inside and asked him if he could come and clear out the stuff in his car so I could vacuum. He was holding a very clingy Liv, so I changed my mind and told him that I would just set all his things on the trunk of the car, and then he could put it all away.
Rob is known on occasion to leave Tupperware (and the like) in his car, and there were a couple of these items sitting on the passenger seat. I bent down and moved a container and plastic blue plate off of the seat and noticed something small and shiny sitting toward the back of the seat. I screamed and immediately burst into tears! I was absolutely SHOCKED to discover my WEDDING RING!
I last remember wearing my ring when I was pregnant with Tosh. Yes, THREE and a half YEARS AGO! I took it off when my hands got too big for it to fit and thought I had put in in my jewelry box in my master bathroom...at least that is where I had left it during the previous pregnancies. I remember thinking one day, "I haven't seen my wedding ring lately..." and started looking for it. It wasn't in the box and I ended up removing the items from my each of my bathroom drawers trying to find it. I searched for it everywhere with the exception of taking apart all of the pipes under the sink. I knew I had to have put it somewhere, but the fact of the matter is that I have young children that go through drawers, and sometimes put things in strange places. My fear was that Hewitt (two-years-old at the time) had found my ring and had thrown it away.
When we moved away from Utah last year, my final words to my friend Lenny (the buyer of the house) was, "I lost my wedding ring in this house. Please let me know if you ever find it." Since that time, I have thought about my ring a lot and have shed some tears over losing it. I know that it's just a material thing, but it represents something wonderful and it was a gift from my Rob. We'd talked about replacing it, but honestly with so many things on the laundry list of things we need to buy, fix, and replace, it hasn't been a priority. Just this past month, I have discovered that I'm missing all of the letters and tapes that Rob sent to me when I was on my mission! This has been devastating to me as well. I joked with Rob through my tears and told him, "Now I have no proof that you were ever in love with me...well, besides these four kids." :)
I am beyond thrilled to have my ring back. And I have no idea how the ring ended up in Rob's car. Maybe I took it off when we were out on a date in his car one night? Why would I do that? I'm probably in that car only once or twice a month. I can't imagine that I would just set it down in the car anyway... I laugh about how many times we have vacuumed out that car in the last three years, and the fact that we've even had Burke vacuum out the car! It's a miracle it didn't get vacuumed up. It was also bizarre that the ring was just sitting there; not lodged in a crevice or hidden under the seat or anything like that. Weird. Weird and absolutely awesome.
My reaction to finding the ring must have been something to see. I think it is interesting that I had asked Rob to come out into the garage to help me yesterday. Initially I asked him because I was slightly annoyed with cleaning out his mess on my own, but am so glad that Rob was there with me when I found it. After I started screaming and sobbing, I ran over and gave him a huge hug and kiss. Rob later told me that he thought I had found a scorpion at first! We concluded that my reaction to finding the ring yesterday was much bigger than my reaction was when he first gave it to me over 11 years ago. Not all that surprising, really. Don't things usually become more treasured to us once they have been lost? And lucky for me, I love my husband more than I did when we were first engaged.
Now to find all those missing letters and tapes. I can't wait for Rob to hear how "mushy" he was when we were first dating...
8 comments:
I'm so glad you found it. What a great story!
SO happy for you...
I can't believe it was just sitting there, either! Crazy. The comment you made to Rob about only having the 4 kids to show he ever loved you is hilarious-- I laughed out loud. I hope you find the letters and tapes!
I am really glad you found it. I always took my ring off to play basketball because I had heard horror stories about playing iwth it on. One time after playing I couldn't find it but thought "Oh it will turn up". It didn't. I went through the gym bag several times, it was a small bag, pretty easy to look through. Finally 2 years later, at the start of basketball season I grabbed my gym bag to put stuff in it and there was this rattle sound. I looked in the bag and there all alone lay my ring. I suppose it must have been there, somewhere, all along. I don't remember screaming or anything but I do remember being very happy because it has an inscription in it from Patti that makes it very dear to me.
I am really glad you found it. I always took my ring off to play basketball because I had heard horror stories about playing iwth it on. One time after playing I couldn't find it but thought "Oh it will turn up". It didn't. I went through the gym bag several times, it was a small bag, pretty easy to look through. Finally 2 years later, at the start of basketball season I grabbed my gym bag to put stuff in it and there was this rattle sound. I looked in the bag and there all alone lay my ring. I suppose it must have been there, somewhere, all along. I don't remember screaming or anything but I do remember being very happy because it has an inscription in it from Patti that makes it very dear to me.
Glad you found it! Hope the letters turn up! I LOVE reading letters Brett and I wrote while on his mission. Those are definitely a treasure!
So glad you found it. But, anyone who knows the two of you can just see that Rob loves you by the way he looks at you. (Besides the marriage, 4 kids, etc. ;))
Your Colorado trip... so fun!
i love it! that really is crazy it didn't get vacuumed up before now. amazing! and i love your comment about your reaction and how we treasure things more after they have been lost. so true. i'm so happy you found it! your story reminded me of my mom's story (and i may have already told you this) but my mom's main diamond actually fell out of her ring one time and she searched everywhere for that single diamond (a seemingly impossible task). She had the thought (prompting) to look through the vacuum bag. I remember her getting out a newspaper and spreading the contents of the vacuum bag out...SHE FOUND THE SINGLE DIAMOND!
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