“Until We Meet Again”
I stumbled across this picture on Pinterest last night. A woman had her and her husband’s wedding bands repurposed into a necklace she could wear. The diamonds were from her engagement ring. I thought this was a lovely sentiment and wondered what those of you who are widowed might have done with your wedding rings.
I’m a member of several closed groups for widows. They are mostly involved with travel but some are just safe places where you can go and say things you would never say anywhere else. I remember belonging to one such group early after losing Mr. Virgo. I would often read through the posts in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. Occasionally someone would come into the “chat room” looking for someone to talk to during a particularly bad night. One night, a woman came in and asked if there was anyone out there who could talk and I answered. We visited awhile and I became increasingly alarmed when she made statements like “I don’t want to do this anymore.” And “I just want to die so I can be with him.” I asked if there was someone I could call for her and did she need help. I asked if she had plans to hurt herself. She assured me she did not, but it was just such a struggle. She seemed to settle down and I eventually asked her how long it had been since her husband had died. By the way she sounded, and given my own personal experience, I figured maybe six to eight months. I was stunned when she said ten years! OMGosh! I surely didn’t want to feel like this for ten years!!! That’s when I really realized what an individual journey grief is. No…we each experience it quite differently.
A few months after Mr. Virgo died, one of my friends asked me and several of my closest friends over for a girls weekend. We got in our jammies as soon as we arrived and we brought our needlework projects with us. It reminded me of the days when we were new moms and we’d gather for Wednesday morning “Stitch ‘n B****” complete with coffee and pastries. When things got rough, there were mimosas. There were lots of tears and plenty of laughter that weekend as my tribe encircled me with their love. My friend, Judy, gave me a small petit point box and said “One of these days, you may want to take off your wedding ring and store it with his. Here’s a little box I bought in Europe. It will be the perfect size.” I held the box to my chest and sobbed because I hadn’t even thought of not wearing my ring. I couldn’t imagine it. But, there came a day. I can’t tell you when or what happened. I just knew the time had come to tuck my ring in with Mr. Virgo’s. I actually went to a jeweler to have a necklace made from them, but our rings were so big and heavy, he said it would be no time till it would wear through and break the chain and I’d run the risk of losing them. I didn’t have the heart to melt them into something unrecognizable, so they have sat in the petit point box, inside a red leather box, for about three years now.
Maybe someday I’ll do something with my rings. What have you done with yours? Have you had anything made? Have you heard of any really cool ideas? Feel free to share. My settings don’t allow photos, but if you’d like to send some in a private message, I’ll see if I can create a little album with your photos. With Valentine’s Day coming up, it might be a wonderful way to memorialize you loved one and what you meant to one another. ❤️
“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:1-3 NIV