Momnesia

Ring in the New Year

My husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary just a few weeks ago. It’s been a very busy year - at times almost too stressful to handle, at others too blissful. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him on a more mundanely intimate way, and here are some things I’ve learned:
1. He never puts a new roll of toilet paper on the holder, or puts the seat down;
2. He can sleep through Armageddon;
3. If it isn’t permanently affixed to his body, he can lose it. The keys are never in the same place twice, and we have an ongoing argument that goes something like: “You had the bank card last;” “No, YOU had the bank card last.”

Case in point: his wedding ring. We didn’t spend a boatload on the wedding or rings because we had a baby on the way. Even so, everything associated with our marriage is sacred to me. Yet, a mere two months after, just at a year ago, he lost his wedding ring somewhere in the yard, the car, or possibly, in the house. We don’t know. He was washing the car, and then it was gone.

Several attempts have been made to find it. We’ve rearranged furniture, combed through the grass, and I’ve even tried to rent a metal detector (couldn’t find one) and carefully examined the contents of the vaccuum bag. We’ve come up with a big, fat nothing. Figuring he felt bad about it, I didn’t want to rag him about it, except for an occassional “Oh, out picking up chicks already, are you?” kind of joke. But it really bothered me. A lot. He seemed so nonchalant about it that I thought it didn’t really matter to him.

Today, though, he said to me, “If you want to get me a Christmas present, get me a new wedding ring.” It HAS been bothering him, especially when his co-workers questioned him about the legitimacy of our marriage. “She’s not REALLY your wife, is she?” “Yes! We did the whole wedding thing... we even had TWO preachers!” Still, he was greeted with skepticism. I was happy, even teared up, because he was unhappy about it - as weird as that sounds.

So we hug, and he laughs at me for being teary, and I laugh because it’s been bothering me, and a weight is lifted. As he carries the baby down to the car for me I think, “Maybe I should look for a metal detector again.” A glint catches my eye and I look down. Oh, a random piece of metal that fell off of something - the car, with our luck. That’s probably all we we’d find. Better to save the money and buy a new ring. Then, in the corner of my eye, another glint from a circular object imbedded in the ground.

“OH!” I cry, and start to dig it out with my keys. Scott looks down.
“You’re kidding me!”
“HA!” I hand it to him, triumphantly, and raise my arms in celebration. Touchdown!
He slips the ring on his finger and hugs me.
“You’re awesome.”

Yeah, that’s why you married me