Today is our 12th wedding anniversary.

YAY!

As I reflect on the past 12 years, I want to touch on the most prominent symbol there is for marriage—our wedding rings.

During our brief courting stage of only 5 and a half weeks {you read that right},  I pointed out to my then boyfriend the kind of engagement ring I wanted.  It was:

• white gold
• cathedral setting
• a 1-carat diamond
• princess cut
• with small diamonds on either side.

I know what I want, okay?

He got just about everything right, but my ring is a round cut that is about 1/4-carat.

As he proposed, he apologized that it wasn’t big enough or my desired cut.  He promised that some day he would get me exactly what I wanted . . .

But I don’t ever want a different ring.  What I wanted was to marry this man, and that’s exactly what I got.  The ring is just a material symbol of our love and commitment to each other.  Getting a bigger and “better” one someday will be in no way a reflection of our marriage.  It won’t mean he loves me more, that we’re happier, or more successful.

The modest size of my ring is a reminder of where our relationship started, and how quickly we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.

When Randy and I were dating, he had been a single dad to three little girls for several years, and over half of his paycheck was going to child support {he’s a teacher, so you know he wasn’t bringing home much}.  We were also madly in love and wanted to get married soon, so there wasn’t much time to plan and save. He had to scrape together every penny and nickel he had—he even borrowed money from several relatives {and this man never borrows money}. Even after all this, he purchased the ring from a tiny jewelry shop that was about to go out of business, so the price was drastically reduced.  It was the closest ring to what I wanted that he could afford.

I doubt that my ring has ever struck envy into the heart of any woman who has come into my presence, but, to me, this is more romantic and meaningful than having a millionaire fiance who could give me the most rare and precious 14-carat ring.  My little ring shows that we came from humble beginnings.  I married this man because I love him, not because of kind of rock he could put on my finger.

Even if we become incredibly wealthy someday, I don’t want to “upgrade.” I will still insist on wearing my little 1/4-carat round diamond that my husband gave me when he bowed down on not one, but two knees {he was really nervous} and I decided to be forever his.

I love you, Randall.  Happy anniversary.

Love,