I was talking with a co-worker today about America's view on money, its sense of entitlement, and sacrifice. I was reminded of this story and what a beautiful and wise picture it presents of all three ideas.
In My Shoes: A golden moment for silver aniversary
By Beckey
Watson
Twenty-five
years is a long time to be married.
We had been dreaming of ways
to celebrate our silver anniversary — a cruise, a trip abroad — but as
we grew older, our family grew larger, our savings smaller, and a
simpler plan evolved.
We would spend a weekend at a bed and
breakfast. And we devised a sort of trivia game to review our years
together and test our memories. This would be our gift, a walk down 25
years of memory lane.
So on our anniversary celebration weekend,
we set out for our destination, the historic Henry Clay Inn in
Ashland. We walked across the street from the inn to have dinner at the
Iron Horse Restaurant. We ordered wine, then dinner, and after a toast
to ourselves we started asking each other trivia questions about our
life together. We took our time, each stumped on one or two, realizing
that 25 years was indeed a long time. I finished asking all my
questions, and he asked the last one.
"What is the longest I've
ever been able to keep a secret?" he asked me.
"Five minutes!" I
shot back quickly. (I'm married to a man who has given me a birthday
present early because he couldn't wait after it arrived in the mail.)
But
seeing his slightly hurt look, I amended my answer to 24 hours,
thinking I was being generous.
"You're wrong," he said, "the
answer is five years."
I was shocked and a bit unsettled. My mind
raced. What could he have kept from me for five years?
He handed
me a velvet pouch. Inside was the most beautiful diamond ring I had
ever seen. And I had seen it once before.
It had been shortly
after our 20th wedding anniversary. We went to the jewelers to pick up a
watch that was being repaired. While waiting, my eye caught this lovely
diamond ring. I gasped; I said it was just the kind of ring I would
love were I the kind of wife that craved diamonds. The gold filigree
setting was intricate, the five diamonds in a row were modest. It fit
perfectly on my finger. It was on sale.
My husband tempted me to
get it, but I gave him plenty of reasons to put it back in the case: We
didn't have the extra money. Twenty is a great anniversary, but we
never purchase gifts. Something that special should be saved for a
silver or gold anniversary.
I can tell you honestly, after I took
off that ring and gave it back to the sales clerk, it left my mind. I
knew it wasn't meant to be. We left the jewelers with the repaired
watch.
I would recall later that after arriving home, my husband
went back out to run an errand. But I didn't know he did something much,
much more.
He called the jewelers, and they agreed to help him
with an extreme layaway program. He scrimped on lunches, used money from
his birthday cards or an occasional bonus from work. He never charged a
dime on a credit card. He paid it off, and the real challenge began. He
put it in his sock drawer.
For years!
He then carried
the ring in his pocket as we set off on our silver anniversary weekend.
And then he finally,
finally , gave it to me at dinner.
Yes,
I remembered the ring instantly. It fit perfectly on my hand. I still
think it's the most beautiful and unique ring I've ever seen.
I
sat there in the restaurant ignoring a perfectly good meal while his
tale unfolded. I cried. He cried. I kept repeating over and over, "I
can't believe you did that!"
I couldn't imagine that anyone would
have the strength to keep such a secret from me, our parents and
children, neighbors and co-workers for five years.
Our budget was
never compromised, although he made many personal sacrifices to
accomplish his goal. I didn't protest that he shouldn't have; I accepted
it for the beautiful gift it was meant to be.
But the wonderment
of what he had done for me was the true gift. My husband had managed to
wrap up every example of our 25 years of marriage in the gift of the
ring — commitment, perseverance, sacrifice, love and beauty.
It
was more than a diamond ring. It was like holding his heart in the palm
of my hand.
Richmond Times-Dispatch © Copyright
2012 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General
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