A Ring, Its Story And True Love

A good friend of mine sent me this terrific email with "random Gamilee ring info" as she put it about her grandmother and the wedding and engagement rings she still wears.  Gamilee is an elegant, classy lady from a bygone era of gentlemen and civility that one isn't likely to find much of these days.  After Boppa died, she never stopped wearing her wedding ring or the beautiful, yet redesigned, diamond ring that she received in lieu of a solitare engagement ring.  The story goes that Gamilee was too practical for a traditional diamond engagement ring and preferred the offer of land as a promise to marry!  She instead received the lovely diamond she still wears today as a Christmas gift from Boppa and had it further adorned years later.  But the wedding band, still on Gamilee's finger, is as it was when first given after saying their "I dos".  It has its own interesting and beautiful story. 

The ring was engraved, as was custom, with what was supposed to be the original wedding date.  Call it Fate or circumstance but something stepped in and instead, Gamilee and Boppa had to marry on a different date.  The ring however, was never fixed and still states the intended wedding date on the inside!  Now the outside of the gold wedding band is also engraved and still has slight remnants of x's, o's and flowers that once adorned it.  But the years of wearing have almost worn it smooth and the faint outlines are all that remain visible.  This gave me pause to smile as I thought of Gamilee, who I know and have spent much time with, and Boppa, who I never had the pleasure to know but have heard so much about throughout the years.  What this well-worn and well-loved ring brought to mind was how much Gamilee and Boppa must have loved each other; how Gamilee after so many years, has continued to wear the ring and how it must be a beautiful reminder of Boppa everyday, even after having lost him so many years ago.  This to me is true love at its best - a ring, not perfect yet perfectly worn as a testament that some loves do transcend time.