The Ring

The pain of removing my wedding band is forever seared in my memory. The reason was legitimate and unavoidable as my ring finger swelled and bled more by the second. The impending stitches, surgery, therapy, and recovery of my finger were dependent upon sliding the band over the exposed and severed tendons and flesh.

As the doctor uttered the words, “You must remove the ring or we’ll have to cut it off,” something on my inside hurt too. I prayed my way through the agony of pulling my ring over my wound so I didn’t have to go through the sadness that would come with cutting off that ring my Love had worked so hard to earn for me.

As my injury healed, my finger remained naked, and a little piece of my heart felt broken as I learned that it would be months, if not a year or more, before I could once again don the diamond crusted band that accompanied my solitaire.

A ring doesn’t make a marriage. It doesn’t determine the amount of love, commitment, and happiness that the couple shares, but it’s a beautiful reminder of the promise we made to weather the seasons, trials, and successes together.

Each day that my hand has remained bare, I’ve thought of how much I appreciate the man who completes me, who has worked so hard to provide for our needs, and chooses to take the high road when it would be infinitely easier to succumb to the easy one.

So I found this simple band to stand in while my scar continues to heal. There’s not a lot of allure in it as it simply adorns my winter and mother-worn hand, yet to me it speaks perfectly of this time in our lives together. Simple without a lot of glory or fanfare, but important and precious nonetheless. Nearly seven years of waking up to new struggles and accomplishments together, and I couldn’t be prouder to make sure the world knows that I am his.

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