History of a Ring

The always cute and fabulous Melissa over at M and M Wedding posted a very unique and beautiful ring yesterday. Go ahead...check it out. While it is very cute, it reminded me of something more. My ring.

See, my ring has a history. It once belonged to what was Frank's paternal grandmother. She passed it down to Frank's father, who gave it to Frank's mother. I am now the third generation ring-wearer!

Sadly, Frank's mother couldn't really give it to me herself as she is in the final stages of Alzheimer's. His father, however, was very excited and has repeatedly said how happy both of the women would be to see the ring passed on to me. His father is a very nice and generous person, but doesn't necessarily throw around the compliments, so I love it when he says nice things to me. I take them, and treasure them.

Anyways, I guess I lied a little... the ring had to be cut off of Frank's mother's finger when she first got Alzheimer's, so he was basically given a wedding band and an engagement ring, all cut up into 4 separate pieces. We took the main stone (yes, the big, flawless, beautiful one!) and Frank sort of designed the rest. He took me to a jewelry store, I said "I like that one," and between him and the jeweler they came up with my beautiful ring 3 months later.

While removing the stone from the original ring, the jeweler noticed an inscription inside. MP loves REP. Awwww, they had their bands engraved! Now of course, being the sappy romantics that we are, Frank nor myself can bring ourselves to do anything with 4 useless small pieces of platinum.

It is so cute and sweet that there was an inscription. I think its such a sweet touch to such a special and significant piece of jewelry. Whether you tell people about it or keep it a secret. Whether you put your initials or a cute little meaningful phrase (in Melissa's case "Te Amo"), it is such a cute thing to do.

I imagine Frank and I will continue the tradition and have JH loves FP put in mine. :)

The Proposal

It has occurred to me that I have only included the proposal on our wedding web page!  Here it is:  

Frank and I were introduced by a mutual friend.  We got along instantly, but were extremely grateful for modern technologies due to the distance between our residences.  At the time, we were about 2-2 1/2 hours apart.  :(  We spent many, many hours on the phone and internet those fist few months, usually until 4-5 a.m.  (no joke.)  Initially I was reluctant to commit, but Frank's patience paid off for the both of us.  He always quoted the Heinz commercial, saying "the best things come to those who wait."  You may remember the infamous commercial with Matt LeBlanc, if not the link below may trigger your memory:

Ketchup Commercial

After Frank had been super patient and extremely loving, I ordered a custom made Heinz bottle for him with his little quote on it.  Neither one of us has ever looked back, we are inseparable.  He often referred to me as his ketchup.

So, now on to the good stuff...

Frank and I were driving to Disney World and we were going to make a pit stop to rest for the night at his Dad's house in Hilton Head, South Carolina.  He surprised me and blew right past the exit though, and I had no idea where we were going!  He ended up blindfolding me (with the scented sleeping mask he conveniently gave me for Christmas) and took me to the Plantation Inn at Amelia Island, FL.  It was absolutely beautiful!  I'd always wanted to go there, and Frank and I have often talked about moving to the area.  

    

After a nice walk on the beach (the stars were so bright and beautiful), we returned to the room and decided to order room service.  When the room service arrived, the little ketchup and mustard bottles had been replaced with ones that read "Will you marry me?"  Frank got on his knee, I cried, etc, etc.  The ring was beautiful, and the proposal perfect.  

   

We woke up early the next morning to order breakfast (MMMMmmmm Eggs Benedict!) and watch the sunrise.  We then headed off to Disney World to meet my Mom and celebrate!