When life hands you lemons

Men often think women just want a big, fat diamond engagement ring that they can show off.  And we do want to show it off, but it's so much more than a diamond.  It's a symbol.  It goes up over your finger and down under your finger, and (as cheesy as it may sound) represents the ups and downs of your relationship and of life.  It's a symbol of love and strength and longevity.  It's a circle, never ending.  The reason we want to look at our hand and see that big, beautiful thing sparkling back at us is because it represents forever.

At least, that's what it meant to me.  I wore my ring every day.  I only took it off, briefly, to put on lotion.  It became an extension of my hand.  So, it was extremely bizarre taking it off permanently after The Ex left.  I think I said something to my sister like, "What do I do?  I guess I'm supposed to take this off now?"  If you've never had to do this (and I hope you never do) it goes something like this:  as you wiggle it off your finger your chest starts to cave in and your eyes fill with water and a very light breeze drifts through your body.  Then the ring comes off, and a little piece of your soul goes with it.  (People say I have a flair for the dramatic, but I don't see it.)

That ring sat in my jewelry box for almost two years.  I didn't know what to do with it.  I considered taking out the diamonds and having them set into a necklace or melting down the platinum and resetting the diamonds to create a new ring, but it all seemed wrong.  I knew I could never fool myself into thinking it was anything other than my wedding ring.  I didn't want to keep it, but I definitely wasn't giving it back.  You've already taken everything else from me, you can't have my ring, too!  (I'm practicing being dramatic, it's coming to me pretty easily.)  So, I decided to sell it.

My roommate at the time had a family jeweler, so I called him and he took me to an appraiser.  It turned out to be a pretty crappy ring (cheap bastard Ex) but a month later we had a buyer.  I didn't get very much for it, but what I did get contributed to my trip to Ireland and Scotland, so I can't really complain.  See, folks?  When life hands you lemons, you have them appraised, sell them and go on vacation.  I think that's how the saying goes.