I’m selling my wedding set, later this morning.
In preparation, and because I’d never had “professional” ring photos taken, I decided to do some, myself, earlier tonight, using my “good” camera and a crinkled camisole.
I wore this for a year and a half. Then I switched to a fake wedding set so that I wouldn’t lose it or ruin it while doing farm chores…because I wanted it to last as long as possible.
The side bands weren’t part of the original set, but were chosen and then adjusted to fit around the center ring.
I really did love the way they turned out. They matched, and were pretty, but were somehow able to not look gaudy on my (rather large) hand.
I hope that the couple that receives this set in the future has all of the luck (and much more) that I didn’t, and that their time together is as blissful as possible. These rings deserve to be worn by someone in love, who is loved.
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This is oddly cathartic, and oddly sad. I’m glad the rings will no longer be in my possession, but I hate that they were mine, but never “mine.” I hate that the rings I loved so much never fulfilled their purpose, and that I didn’t get to wear them forever, as I’d planned. I suppose that’s what happens when you view marriage as a set of symbols and rules, rather than as a partnership (*cough*wasband*cough*).
Engagement and wedding rings have a weird place in my life, at this point. Former boyfriends and good male friends keep telling me how wonderful I am, and how much they’ve always wanted to be with me, just before becoming engaged to someone else (no, seriously – I HAVE A LIST). The two times I’ve been engaged, only one ended in marriage, and that marriage ended in divorce.
The ring has stopped being a simple of love, and has instead become a symbol of settling, and of broken promises. I hate that. I suppose when your only experiences with something have been repeatedly negative, though, you’re bound to get bitter.
I mean it, though, that I want this ring to have a happy future. It’s a gorgeous set, and it deserves to be worn proudly, shown off shamelessly, and paraded around by a giggling woman completely sure of herself and her relationship, with a man who’s also completely sure of those things, and willing to fight to keep them safe and whole.
So long, symbols. Be good in your next life.
When my wife and I separated (prior to our divorce 7 years later!) I gave her my ring and asked if she ever wanted to come back, to give it back to me. That was 18 years ago.
We are still friends, in fact, I discovered before my most recent move that she lives 1/2 mile away.
I suspect it’s not going to happen.
Probably not, but that’s a sweet idea. I’m glad you’re still friends.
I wound up giving an engagement/wedding ring set to my oldest nephew, who was proposing to his girlfriend but being a Pvt. in the Army of course had no money for a ring. The ring set had been sent back to me by my ex-fiance, reason unknown. I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere near the money back that it had cost me, so I held onto it. They have been married 10 years now so I guess the ring didn’t have any bad luck on it…
The memories I have attached to that ring…blech. I might have kept it for my nephew (he’s 6) to give to him when he was 18 or whatever, but first, I was tired of worrying about where it was, and second, I was tired of seeing it and remembering what happened while I was married. I sent my ring back to my first fiancee (at the ripe old age of 19), because that’s what you do. A broken engagement is a broken contract, and the person who initiates the contract (usually the guy) gets the ring back.
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I didn’t get nearly as much for the ring as was paid for it, but I didn’t pay, so I can’t really care. I do understand, though – my first wedding set was platinum, and I sincerely hope my ex was able to get a good amount from it, because otherwise…yeah. Heh. I got some money to pay car insurance and buy some groceries (including vitamins and medication I need), so I don’t feel bad about selling it so much as weird for it having to be sold, if that makes sense.
That’s true,there are many memories attached to a wedding ring. In our family grandmother’s wedding ring is gifted to the daughter in law as a wedding gift.