Monday, October 27, 2003

The Wedding Ring

As you may know a time came a few years ago ago, when Maria asked that I wear a ring to symbolize ...

My father never wore a ring; I used one, hastily purchased on Greenwich Street, at the ceremony that tied us together in June of 1963, in Riverside Church, the Reverend Pablo Colon, presiding. What happened to that ring I cannot tell. It is gone for a long time, many years, perhaps stolen by a burglar at our home in Great Neck. Or lost, forgotten on a sink somewhere. I don't know. At the time I did not feel comfortable wearing it, and never replaced it.


Many years later, Maria asked that I wear one, just after our reconciliation feeling somewhat under pressure, and guilty too, I agreed, and immediately went to find one. I tried a few on, but I couldn't bring myself to go through with a purchase. So a year has elapsed, perhaps more.

A few days ago I visited a few nearby jewelry stores; my finger was measured -- ring size 11 1/2. A few rings were tried on, none suited me, most were too wide, one too narrow, finally it seemed that whenever I liked one the store would fail to have in stock a size 11 1/2

I tried a few pawnshops, but not one had a suitable ring, though the thought crossed my mind that in a pawn shop each ring must have had a more interesting story to tell than any new one that I might buy.

So this morning, once again, I went ring-hunting and found what I sought. A size 11 ½ of medium width, 18K.

And I wear it now -- as I type.

I wanted to surprise Maria by wearing the ring without telling her that I had purchased it. As I placed it on my finger, the salesman smiled and asked whether my haste to wear it outside indicated a shotgun wedding of some kind, but I explained to him that I had been married for forty years and that the purchase (and my wearing) of the ring was a present for my wife.

He suggested that buying her a present would be more appropriate. Well, I had no time to explain my convoluted thinking so I left the store, the ring on my finger and burning into it.

I walked away, finger ringed, now searching for Maria.

She called me on my cellphone and we agreed to meet at another store in the Mall. We met and I waited for Maria to notice the ring.

At first she failed to notice it, as I had purchased a silken robe for her from VictoriaƂ’s Secret, and she was busy looking at the robe. My secret was betrayed by a bulge in my pocket where I had placed the ring box. She saw and asked what was in my pocket. -- Still not seeing what was on my finger.

"My cell phone," I lied. She detected the lie quickly as I had the cellphone in my hand.

"Let me see it," she demanded. Sheepishly I pulled the box out and she saw the Tiffany box.

"Look, I bought a ring," I announced.

She complained that I didn't bring her with me when I bought it. It was too small. Of course I bought in Tiffany's so it had to cost too much.

I wanted to surprise her and I thought that she would be very happy when she saw the ring. Well, no good deed goes unpunished.