Have you ever lost your wedding ring? If you have, you must know that sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. It has happened twice to me, but the second time was totally the worst and most horrifying. It happened several years ago. I went to put my rings on and they just weren't anywhere. My wedding ring is both my engagement and wedding band together. I had them melded together so they wouldn't rub and wear the bands unevenly. Having them come up missing caused me panic and tons of stress! It isn't that they are worth untold amounts of money.... it's that I know how much time and thought my Mister put into finding the setting and then finding a special diamond.
So, it was about a week or so before Thanksgiving one year when this happened. We were doing lots of running around and when I realized they were missing, I began trying to retrace my steps... each time I ended up back at the same place.. I had slipped off my jewelry while in the car to put some lotion on my hands. I had remember placing them in the fold of my shirt in my lap but for the life of me, could not remember putting them back on. I searched the house and the car over and over. I dumped out my entire purse and emptied every pocket in it as well as my wallet. I didn't tell my husband at first. I didn't want to upset him. I was turning myself inside out emotionally with each passing day. Thanksgiving came and we went next door to his grandma's house for a family dinner, but I was so miserable. His moma knew something was wrong the moment she saw me and I just burst into tears when I told her what happened. We walked back home afterward the dinner and after my Mister fell asleep I slipped back outside to the driveway and began crawling on my hands and knees with a flashlight, just in case I had dropped them on the ground. Our driveway is graveled and I scarcely remember the rocks grinding into my flesh and poking my bones. I was out there for a long time. I finally crept back into the house, defeated once again. In the morning I told my husband as I started crying...AGAIN. He just said "They have to be somewhere. They'll turn up". He didn't even act upset! I had looked high and low, searched the car at least three times, emptied my purse everyday for a week, crawled all over the driveway. It felt hopeless. I didn't know what else to do or where else to look so I bowed my head and I begged, BEGGED God to lead me to them....I'm not a particularly religious person. We don't even have a church we attend. But I knew I was not getting anywhere. I resisted the urge to look for my rings that day and just kept repeating my prayer. The next day I woke up and felt different. The hopeless feeling was gone. Later that evening after the Mister had gotten home from work, we both looked around for the jewelry a little and he asked if I had checked my purse. Uh YEAH. Like 100 times. But even as I said yes, I picked it up and began methodically removing every thing just like I had done countless times. He searched the couch and chairs. I laid each item our on the table, if it had a pouch or pocket I emptied those as well. The last item was my wallet, which after the repeated searches was super light because I had taken the time to take out all the loose change from the zippered pocket, threw out all the old papers and receipts and all the odds and ends that had ended up there. I unsnapped the flap an began removing my credit and gift cards, then the photos, then the card with all our family member's phone numbers... discount card bought from some student standing outside at Lowe's... and then it was empty once again. I stared into the empty slots and divided spaces, that defeated, hopeless feeling creeping back over me... the only thing left to do was open the single zippered compartment before I began putting everything back into the proper places.... I pinched the little zipper pull and pulled it back.... and there sitting pretty as could be were the rings! I burst into tears... AGAIN! Which brought the Mister running over to see what was the matter... he said "see they were there the whole time!" I showed him the table and how neatly everything was laid out and told him I had done this ritual for a full week before I even told him the jewelry was missing. I showed him the coins I took out of that very zippered pocket and put into a jar. Those rings were not there during my previous searches. I don't know how or why and I'm not sure I want to know, but my desperate prayer was answered. I have been ultra careful about my wedding rings since then. I chose a place to keep them and no matter where we are, even when I am at home, when I take off my rings for any reason, I put them in the same place. I maintain this ritual and have not had to feel that dread and stress since.
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Have you ever lost very important things? Did you find them or have to replace them?
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