Traditionally, the marking of the
passage to status of husband and wife is marked by the exchange of rings. These
rings are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no
beginning and no end, no giver and no receiver, for each is the giver and each
is the receiver.
May these rings always remind you
of the vows you are taking today.
These are the words I say to most of the couples I marry. I picked out my own engagement ring with my husband, then fiance'. We went to Charlops Jewelers on downtown Main Street and bought a matching set, t.he wedding band had diamond chips, his wedding band had diamond chips, and my engagement ring had chips plus a quarter caret diamond. I was wildly excited and we got engaged for Easter, the same time as his sister, Kathy, and her fiance', before we both graduated from high school two months later. Kathy and Gary got married that December, Butch and I got married three years later.
The ring never came off, and once we were married the ring still never came off. Then one day, maybe 20 years later, the diamond fell out and was no where to be found. I went two years without wearing an engagement ring until one Christmas Butch surprised me by taking the ring and having the diamond replaced. Still small, still beautiful and still mine. Then in 1999, it happened again, and I stayed without a ring until the Christmas of 2003.
November 2003, Butch said, "I want to replace your diamond ring for Christmas. Go out and buy the one you want." What a romantic! Not even, let's go look, what would you like, when should we go out together. Just, buy a ring.
2003 was the year of the forever diamond, a three stone ring representing past, present and future. I took one look as I was browsing rings and said this is it. I did not buy the ring on my own, I asked Butch to go Christmas shopping at the mall and told him we had to stop at Zales. We browsed a few other jewelry stores first, and Zales was having the best sale. We purchased the ring with it's LIFETIME diamond commitment! This meant that I had to have the diamonds checked and cleaned every six months. I added the task to my calendar and diligently went to Zales ever June and December, bringing the paperwork showing purchase and past inspections.
I got the paperwork out to stop at the mall in June 2016, just stuffing it into my purse until I had a chance to stop by the mall. I went to the gym the last week of May, and felt this odd irritation / scratchiness on my finger. I glanced down and the small diamond was missing from the ring.
The next day I found the time to run to Zales, knowing the paperwork is already with me. I explained the situation and the sales clerk looked at my records, pulling it up on the computer as well as comparing the hard copy. He took my ring and said that many people do not come in for the inspections and the guarantee becomes null and void. Zales replaced the diamond at no cost to me. I had no ring for another 6 weeks but happily returned it to my finger the day before my birthday in July.
I was told that I can change the schedule coming in for inspection to both July and January and decided that I would rather stay on the existing schedule.
December is a nightmare for a non-shopper, as I am. I know that the mall is a shopping trip from hell with all the people, but Christmas 2016 I was again going to get my diamond checked, the first time since it's new replacement diamond was inserted.
I stopped at Zales first, expecting no issues. The young man took the ring and the paperwork and came back to me with a strange look on his face. He said, "The large diamond in the center has a chip." He pulled out the eyepiece and had me look, there in front of me was a dark spot on MY diamond!
I asked if it could have boon there and the young man again reviewed the paperwork. He said he was the one who gave it back to me in July and there was no way the diamond was flawed then. We again filled out the paperwork and he kept my ring. He explained to me that if I were buying this diamond now, it would cost more that twice what I paid for the ring in 2003.
I waited another six weeks, getting my ring back on my finger just in time for Valentine's Day, another holiday the my husband and I do not celebrate, but that is another story...
So far a happy ending to my happily ever after.
These are the words I say to most of the couples I marry. I picked out my own engagement ring with my husband, then fiance'. We went to Charlops Jewelers on downtown Main Street and bought a matching set, t.he wedding band had diamond chips, his wedding band had diamond chips, and my engagement ring had chips plus a quarter caret diamond. I was wildly excited and we got engaged for Easter, the same time as his sister, Kathy, and her fiance', before we both graduated from high school two months later. Kathy and Gary got married that December, Butch and I got married three years later.
The ring never came off, and once we were married the ring still never came off. Then one day, maybe 20 years later, the diamond fell out and was no where to be found. I went two years without wearing an engagement ring until one Christmas Butch surprised me by taking the ring and having the diamond replaced. Still small, still beautiful and still mine. Then in 1999, it happened again, and I stayed without a ring until the Christmas of 2003.
November 2003, Butch said, "I want to replace your diamond ring for Christmas. Go out and buy the one you want." What a romantic! Not even, let's go look, what would you like, when should we go out together. Just, buy a ring.
2003 was the year of the forever diamond, a three stone ring representing past, present and future. I took one look as I was browsing rings and said this is it. I did not buy the ring on my own, I asked Butch to go Christmas shopping at the mall and told him we had to stop at Zales. We browsed a few other jewelry stores first, and Zales was having the best sale. We purchased the ring with it's LIFETIME diamond commitment! This meant that I had to have the diamonds checked and cleaned every six months. I added the task to my calendar and diligently went to Zales ever June and December, bringing the paperwork showing purchase and past inspections.
I got the paperwork out to stop at the mall in June 2016, just stuffing it into my purse until I had a chance to stop by the mall. I went to the gym the last week of May, and felt this odd irritation / scratchiness on my finger. I glanced down and the small diamond was missing from the ring.
The next day I found the time to run to Zales, knowing the paperwork is already with me. I explained the situation and the sales clerk looked at my records, pulling it up on the computer as well as comparing the hard copy. He took my ring and said that many people do not come in for the inspections and the guarantee becomes null and void. Zales replaced the diamond at no cost to me. I had no ring for another 6 weeks but happily returned it to my finger the day before my birthday in July.
I was told that I can change the schedule coming in for inspection to both July and January and decided that I would rather stay on the existing schedule.
December is a nightmare for a non-shopper, as I am. I know that the mall is a shopping trip from hell with all the people, but Christmas 2016 I was again going to get my diamond checked, the first time since it's new replacement diamond was inserted.
I stopped at Zales first, expecting no issues. The young man took the ring and the paperwork and came back to me with a strange look on his face. He said, "The large diamond in the center has a chip." He pulled out the eyepiece and had me look, there in front of me was a dark spot on MY diamond!
I asked if it could have boon there and the young man again reviewed the paperwork. He said he was the one who gave it back to me in July and there was no way the diamond was flawed then. We again filled out the paperwork and he kept my ring. He explained to me that if I were buying this diamond now, it would cost more that twice what I paid for the ring in 2003.
I waited another six weeks, getting my ring back on my finger just in time for Valentine's Day, another holiday the my husband and I do not celebrate, but that is another story...
So far a happy ending to my happily ever after.
