The Ring of Engagement 2

Dave, my father, didn't buy that ring.

It belonged to Mildred, his mother. His father Ted gave it to her. His aunt (name?) gave it to him, though no one knows how she came to own it. If Ted's aunt was about 30 when she first wore the ring, it may be 100 years old. And for the third time the woman who wore it gave it to a man in the next generation to say "I love you."

My mother always said that when I wanted to get married that I could give the ring. In the last decade or so, she became convinced that she'd go to the grave with it. Laurelyn and I had been together long and happily without marriage. It was the secret to our success, I always said.

When I visited my parents on mother's day weekend and asked my mother for the ring, she handed it over saying only that she wasn't sure she wanted to give it up. I thought I was announcing My Intention to Marry. No one heard it.

A few months later, when Laurelyn and I called to say we were engaged, my parents were shocked. Shocked and amazed, I tell you. I'd convinced them that had no future for me. But I surprised them as much as I'd surprised Laurelyn.