It was September 1966 when he wanted
to know what I planned to do on Saturday. Well, my family was moving and I had
to find a place to live. He wondered if it would take me all day; and when I
asked why, he responded that he thought we’d go look at rings.
His mother had always told him that
when he found THE girl, she’d give him her diamond solitaire engagement ring.
We were at his house that Friday night and his mother took her ring off and
tossed it across the room to him. To this day I know she wasn’t happy about
that because when he’d told her a month or so before that we were getting
married, she laughed and laughed until she realized he was serious. She never
liked me, nor would she have liked any woman John married, but that’s another
story.
So, Saturday morning John took me
downtown to Rivkin’s Jewelers. He wanted a wedding set that would hold two
matching stones, the one from his mom and one from him. The jeweler didn’t have
anything like that but showed us a ring in the shape of an
orchid. The larger
part of the orchid could hold his mother’s diamond with a smaller one in the
other part of the orchid or vice versa. It was an antique gold setting and I
LOVED it!!! We also picked out a wedding band for John for which I paid.
The rings were ordered, and I could
hardly wait until my birthday in November which is when John said he would give
it to me. I’ve said previously he was a romantic and once he had the ring, he
couldn’t wait. My habit was to get ready for bed before he made his nightly
call after he got off work. Then, I could go to bed and go to sleep to dream of
him.
There I was in my pjs and a robe, no
make-up, my hair all done up in huge rollers when he knocked on the door
instead of calling. He wanted me to come out to his car for just a minute. I
went, wondering what the heck was going on. In the car, he pulled the ring box
out of his pocket and placed the engagement ring on my finger. I was beyond
thrilled. A few kisses and I went inside to bed after showing my family my
ring, and John went home.
Now, I thought once I had my engagement
ring, I’d be flashing my left hand around, pushing it into everyone’s faces. But
suddenly I was shy. I couldn’t really bring myself to shout out, “Hey, look
what I’ve got.” Instead, I became very left-handed and absolutely loved, loved,
loved showing that gorgeous ring to everyone.
Now, I wasn’t supposed to get anything
for Christmas that year that cost more than $1.00, including tax. The wedding
set had taken all John’s money, so he was broke. That was perfectly fine with
me. He could give me penny candy for all I cared. I had his ring, I had him, we
were going to be married the following August, so what did I care about an
inexpensive Christmas gift. Well, on Christmas morning, he gave me a long
slender box, wrapped in shiny green paper. I opened it to find a box from
Rivkin’s Jewelers and inside a watch. The band was made of individually crafted
roses in antique gold. I looked at that lovely piece of jewelry and said, the
first thing that popped into my head, i.e., “This only cost $1.00, including
tax?”
The band was too large for my small
wrist, so John had one of the roses removed and a safety chain attached. He
also told me he wanted to put a diamond in the center of each rose on every
wedding anniversary. I was so touched, but told him I wanted to wear the watch,
not have to leave it in a safe. The watch came back and I wore it proudly for
decades. I took the rose they’d removed and had a tie tac and cufflinks made in
antique gold to match. They were John’s wedding gift from me.
I never grew tired of my wedding set.
I still love it as much today, maybe even more, than when I first received it
that October evening. I don’t wear it as much as I used to because I’m older
now and my knuckles swell. It started out as a 4.75 size, and I know we had it
made larger when the anniversary band was added (another post). If I’m going to
keep wearing it, it could probably stand to be enlarged again.
I never grew tired of my watch either.
I wore it on a daily basis until the year 2000. That’s the year I was treated
for breast cancer. I gained 20 pounds, and apparently some of that weight went
to my wrists because eventually, I could barely close the latch and it was so
tight it hurt. Now, I wear a Fitbit and it tells me the time when I need to
know.
John was very generous and giving. I
hope he knew and realized how much I loved and appreciated those two gifts, not
only in 1966 when received, but for all the years that followed. I do so wish I
could tell him so today.
Finally, may I suggest to anyone out
there who still has his/her spouse that you take the time to reflect on what
s/he has given/provided and tell them how much you love the gift, the time, or
whatever you really appreciate about him or her…don’t do as I did and wait
until it’s too late. I hate feeling sorry.
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| 8/13/1966 |