My Ring(s) Part 2

I must warn you in advance, this ring is pretty breath-taking. And the story is heart-breakingly sweet. In fact, my mom and aunt cried when they told me the story of my heirloom ring.

The rings belonged to my grandmother, my mother's mother. The details of the ring are a bit hard to discern in this picture, but you can at least differentiate between the engagement ring (the one with the large diamond) and the wedding band (the one with the three smaller diamonds in what appears to be a circle). You can tell that the ring has plenty of bling and is set in white gold, but the ring holds a secret design. All the diamonds are set in hearts except the main one on the engagement ring. Here are some better pictures to show you what I mean:

Can you see what I mean? Anyway, so on to the heart-breakingly beautiful story behind the ring. Well, I suppose to understand why this ring means so much to me, you have to understand the love story of my mother's parents. In my opinion, it is one of the great love stories of all time. And it happened between a mailman and a secretary (not all love stories involve princesses and castles ;) ).

My grandfather was obviously, the mailman. He was around 40 when he met my grandmother, though she was only in her 20's. He had never married before. He said he had never found the right woman. But the moment he saw my grandmother as he delivered her a package, he knew. He always said she stole his heart from the moment he saw her. Within two months they were engaged (talk about getting married quickly).

Despite the risk of a speedy engagement/marriage, the two of them were happily married for their entire lives. My mom would tell me stories of the two of them slow dancing in the kitchen and that my grandfather always had stars in his eyes when my grandmother laughed. He loved her with all his heart, for his whole life.

Unfortunately, my grandmother died relatively young. Even though she married a significantly older man, she passed away in her early 50s. My grandfather's heart was broken and, though she went fairly quickly, he spent every moment he could by her bedside. One of the last things he said to her was "What am I going to do without you Betty? You know you've always had my heart."

It almost feels like a scene out of a Nicholas Sparks novel it's so full of tears and sugar sweet love cliches. But in this case, it's real life. My grandfather and grandmother are together again in heaven now, but their love still inspires me.

This last picture is of an inscription in the ring. It says "Joe and Betty" (my grandparents names) and something else that I want to investigate with a magnifying glass. If I had to guess it's probably Jacie Kocham, which is polish for "I love you."

The reason it means so much to me to use my grandparent's wedding rings is that I feel like I am honoring their love for each other. My grandfather had the ring custom made for her with the heart motif. It didn't belong in a drawer. It was made with love, and I will wear it with love and respect. My grandparent's vows are tied in that ring, and Mishka's and mine will be too.

Being able to use these rings as my wedding band is one of the wedding things I am most excited about!