The Saga of the Ring...

My wedding ring has a story...

The first part of the story came a long time ago. In the mid 1980's, we were living in Fort Collins. We were dirt poor...didn't have too many expensive or important possessions except maybe 3 kids...and my wedding ring. One afternoon, I looked down at my ring, and the diamond was gone. Granted, it's not that huge...1/3 karat...but it was important to me. I was frantic, thinking I'd never find it. So the best thing I knew to do was to get down on my knees and pray about it. I asked Heavenly Father to please help me find my diamond. I had been everywhere that day, but I received the answer to go look on the floor of the car on the driver's side. So, that's what I did. I opened up the car door, got down and looked on the floor...the light was shining just right...and made the diamond glisten. There it was...my tiny diamond. So we took the little money we had and went to the jeweler and had it placed back in the ring, and made sure from that time on, that I checked the prongs to make sure they were not worn down. I was thankful that my ring was intact.

Next part of the story...

About 8 years ago or so...can't remember exactly...I started having problems with my fingernail on my ring finger. I thought I was getting a fungus in it or something, so I went to the doctor to get it checked out and he couldn't find anything wrong. The nail finally fell off completely. I soon discovered that my wedding ring was cutting off the circulation on my finger because I had gained weight and it was just way too small. So, with much effort and allot of soap and grease, I was finally able to get the ring over my knuckle and off the finger without having it cut off (the ring I mean). The fingernail grew back and I put the ring away in a safe place in the original box, hoping that some day I would be able to get it resized so I could wear it again. So the years went by and I would occasionally think about it, hoping that Bruce would take it in and get it resized for me. It was kind of the principle behind the whole thing...I could have done it myself, but I thought it would make a wonderful anniversary or birthday gift if he would do it for me. Then, we came to a point where we didn't have any money to get it done, knowing that gold was expensive. It didn't bother me too much not to be able to wear it, except when we went to the temple. For some reason, that bothered me. So anyway, I was talking to our friend, Nancy one day and she said she had a good jeweler that could do it for us for a good price when we were ready to do it. He had a little shop in the back of his home. Bruce remembered that, and bless his little heart, he decided that for our anniversary this year (#34) he would get my ring resized. He called Nancy all by himself (I was so proud),  to get the name and phone # of the jeweler, Paul Reiley, and took the ring in to have it done. This was a friend and a former neighbor of Nancy's. Bruce took it in about 3 weeks before our anniversary. He called him to check on it the week before, and he was not in, so Bruce just left a message for him to call back. He had been out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday, and when he got back he returned the call (this was on a Tuesday morning prior to our anniversary on Friday). He said he was working on the ring and should have it ready by later that night or the next day. So we waited for a phone call back from him and he never called. On Friday, Nancy and I were together prepping for a catering job, and I thanked her for giving Bruce the information, and told her that Bruce had taken the ring in to have it resized. That's when she broke the news...the UPS man found Paul Reiley dead in his backyard on Wednesday morning. Now what? Where's my ring, and how long will it take to get it back? Nancy said she would find out some information and get back with me. On the following Monday, Nancy called and said she was going over to retrieve my ring and she would bring it to me...yeah! When we got the ring back, we realized that Paul had been working on the ring when he died...he had extended it (2 sizes), but it was not finished off. We were not charged anything, since the work was not completed. At least we had the ring back. So now we needed to find another jeweler to finish the job. Another friend gave us the name of two jewelers...Nelson Jewelers and Moretti Jewelers. Bruce first took it over to Nelson Jewelers, and there was a sign on the door stating that they no longer did business in Colorado Springs. OK...let's try Moretti Jewelers. Bruce took the ring in, told them the story, and they said, "this is a first." Bruce proceeded to tell them that if anything happened to them while they were working on the ring, that he would get rid of the ring, knowing that it was most likely "cursed." Anyway, they ended up doing a wonderful job finishing off the ring, it looks beautiful, and fits great. Total price...$35. Not bad for getting a ring sized up 2 sizes. Bruce said, "yeah, $35 and a man's life, you'll probably have to account to him in the next life." And so ends the saga of the ring.

Christmas with our "family"...

Since we don't have any family close by, we have adopted our family home evening group as our "family" here in the Springs. We have been meeting together now for almost 6 years...we have lost a few good folks, and we have adopted a few along the way...but we have become a great group of friends, and love doing things together. We were all originally from the same ward, but we are now from 4 different wards...but all in the same stake and living pretty close together. Let me tell you something about each one...

• Dick and Nancy- Dick and Nancy, along with Bruce and myself, are the only original orignals in our group. Dick and Nancy were called by Bishop Larsen to start our little group in Oakwood Ward about 6 years ago. We love them both...fun to be with...great insights...add enthusiasm to our group. Dick is a car salesman (a good honest one) and retired AF, and getting ready to retire for the second time soon. They have moved from house to house in the last several years, and are now living in a little basement apartment with their daughter in order to save some money for retirement. Nancy works with me in my catering business...hard worker, creative, and fun. Nancy and Dick also know everything there is to know about Colorado Springs...great resource.
• Rex and Alene- Our senior couple. They joined with us just a couple of months after we originally started. They keep us laughing...both of them. Rex is ex-Marine, and his mouth often proves that. Alene just sits and shakes her head. They are both in their 80's and have been married now for 64 years. Alene is a great pianist and Rex loves to sing and play the harmonica. They have been on 3 missions, and Rex is an ex-bishop. What a fun couple to be around! Rex and Alene are now our unofficial "leaders" of the group.
• Bev-what can we say about Bev? She is a super friend, and fun to be around...also works with us in my catering business...hard worker, and goes and goes like the Energizer bunny. Bev is just a few years younger than my mom...has lots of insights and wisdom, and great sense of humor... but she still acts like a teenager sometimes. We brought Bev along with us after she moved into Ridgeview Ward about the same time we did. She lost her husband several years ago, has been on 2 missions since, and has great spiritual strength...also very opinionated...of course, we all are...that's what makes our little group interesting.
• Wayne and Michelle- We asked them to join our group when we lost Dave and Linda Deming. (Demings moved to Parker, after Linda was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease...passed away a short year later, and Dave remarried.) Wayne and Michelle are also in our ward. Wayne is our hometeacher also...the best. Wayne and Michelle were high school sweethearts from southern California...Wayne was a surfer dude, and he loves motorcycles. Michelle is fun and has some great insights...gives wonderful lessons, but is mostly a mom and grandma. Wayne loves to read, and is a wealth of knowledge, and is a retired Army officer. He is now a "cable guy" quality control inspector.
• Kim-one of 3 single sisters in our group. Kim is an elementary school counselor and is "Miss Super Activity." She always travels and hikes and hikes and hikes...and never has a weight problem, like some of us. Kim also has some great insights, and gives great lessons. She loves reading children's books and will often read some to our group...it keeps us young.
• Maureen- she is the newest member of our group, but been with us long enough now that she fits right in. Maureen moved here from Sacramento, CA, and is a supervisor at Wells Fargo, who transferred her here to the Springs. Maureen is musically talented...is the  stake music coordinator, and has some great insights for good lessons. She is great addition to our "family."

We meet together every week...most often for lessons...but sometimes for activities like concerts, potlucks, or games. Last Friday night, we had our annual Christmas dinner...everyone contributes a part of the food. This year, we were excited to have it at our home. Bruce worked hard to make sure the house was clean, and then we festively decorated two tables to get everyone in the holiday spirit. I must say, it all looked really nice, and we all had a good time. Some of us played games afterwards, while Bruce washed up all the dishes. I did ask him if he wanted help...but...he just kept working, and then collapsed afterward. So here is a picture of our cute little group...

and our house all decorated for the Christmas season...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our wonderful "family" friends. We'll see you when we get back from Connecticut.