The Ring

Way back in October, I went to a Rodrigo y Gabriela concert with Kim and Christin. Rodrigo and Gabriela play metal-flamenco guitars. No singing. It's so amazing. And the show was awesome! The bassist from Metallica showed up and they did this insanely beautiful version of Orion (a Metallica song). I clapped and clapped until I couldn't feel my hands. Apparently, I clapped the diamond out of my engagement ring. I didn't notice until we were leaving and we got the staff at the venue to help, but that diamond was gone.

I told everyone I knew. And my finger felt naked, even though my wedding band was still on it.

So a few weeks ago I randomly mentioned to my mom that I don’t have anything of her mother’s. I meant something small but sentimental. I have the triangular ruler that my dad's dad used to design the HVAC for the World Trade Center. I have a stack of letters to and from family in Russia, in Russian, from my mom's dad. My mother told me I should have her mom's engagement ring, which I’ve never seen. My grandma died over 6 years ago, so it obviously means a lot to my mom since she’s been hanging onto it. Anyway, so she tells me the story:

My great-grandfather, Abraham Lincoln Mandelbaum, bought a ring for his wife, Caroline, when my grandma was born (my grandma was a surprise, and my great-grandparents were older and A.L.M. was a high-priced attorney), he also decided to give a ring to his mother, Fanny. He gave Fanny the nicer ring and Caroline the still-nice, but not-quite-as-nice ring (yeah, I know, what's up with that?). Fanny had just died when my dirt-poor grandfather wanted to marry my grandmother. My grandfather went to Abraham Lincoln Mandelbaum and told him how he really wanted to marry his daughter but had no money for the kind of ring she deserved. Fanny had just died and so A.L.M. sold him her ring for $25 (~$375 today). My grandmother wore it every day until she died. Caroline’s ring went to my uncle who proposed to his wife with it. They divorced and later my uncle remarried. He died 15 years ago and we don't know where the ring is now.

It was hard to refuse this ring after hearing the story, so I closed my eyes when my mom brought it out. It’s gorgeous. It's platinum. The center stone is round, but it’s in a square 4-prong setting so it looks like a princess cut. It’s just over 2 carats and there are 3 small channel-set diamonds on either side. I’m getting it appraised this week, but I already had it cleaned and sized to fit the correct finger. The energy I feel from wearing this ring that has been on my great-grandmother's and then my grandmother's fingers is overwhelming.

I tried to take some pictures to post here, but ran into some technical difficulties.

There's a part of me that loves this ring and loves this story. There's a part of me that feels like my engagement ring should be about Jake and me, and I miss him in this story. My wedding band, of course, never ever leaves my finger and looks really nice with the new ring. And, we designed the ring on my right ring finger together, using his grandmother's diamond, in celebration and symbolizes our family. So overall, I feel that balance and loving energy. I get to take it with me everywhere and I feel very lucky for that.