Wedding rings are important to many people. My mother wore her engagement and wedding rings for over 70 years.
Rings were not the thing for men when they got married. So my father never wore a ring.
Rings serve as an outward sign of commitment for many people. It is also a general announcement to “hunters” that they are “taken.”
Jay and I started our married life with rings. I don’t think either of us were very much into it. We were both free spirits, who resisted being branded or tagged.
We knew we were exclusive to God and each other and we did not need something on our bodies to remind us.
We also knew if a “hunter” approached, it was not a ring that was needed to throw them off scent. It would be our behavior and whether we would happily acknowledge we were married.
We tried to wear the rings and we did for a number of years. But both of us frequently took them off when we were in the privacy of our homes. And then, there was the problem of being nurses and having to wash our hands a lot.
More than once, Jay took off his ring to wash and then forgot to put it back on, prompting a panicked search for the ring.
Finally, we agreed to stop what had become burdensome for us and just file the rings away. We frequently held hands and the joy of each other’s touch unhindered was well worth it.
When the day comes to part, it is each other’s touch, full skin to skin, that we shall remember.
Today, we were organizing mementos and we came across the rings. We tried them on. We smiled, remembering the first day we wore them. We held hands and agreed the rings should go back to the box.
It is a fond memory of another day and time, but not representative of who we are now.
We hope our lives will let the world know that what God has joined together will not be put asunder!
