Today, I cut my wedding rings off. I didn’t purposely pick February 14th as the day I would do this; it just turned out that way.
Mikey is not the type of husband that showers me in gifts. He loves me, nurtures me and supports me in ways no one ever has - these are his gifts to me. And besides, I’m not the type of girl that needs flowers and chocolates every anniversary. As long as I have hugs and smooches, I’m set.
This morning was different.
Next year will be our tenth wedding anniversary and we’ve been talking about heading to Las Vegas and renewing our vows in some crazy Fat-Elvis-type ceremony. It’s also going to be Mikey’s 40th birthday and two weeks later, my 45th, so we’ll celebrate everything in one fancy fell swoop. I’ve also asked for a Tiffany diamond ring to seal our ten years of marriage.
I’m happy to wait for the ring, it’s a big expense and I think you need a milestone anniversary to justify it. Somehow, Mikey decided that he didn’t want me to wait, so he purchased a very nice ‘temporary’ ring and presented it to me beautifully wrapped first thing this morning. He even asked me if I’d marry him again. Nawww, he rocks!
The ring, of course, didn’t fit. So after I dropped our daughter to daycare, I headed straight to the jewelers.
When I met Mikey and when we became engaged, I was a size 8 (AUS) in women’s clothing. Years of cupcake abuse, chocolate obsession and not a lot of exercise later, I’ve (unsurprisingly) gone up three dress sizes, together with the size of my fingers. The skin between my wedding rings and my fourth-finger knuckle was so bulky; I couldn’t get my rings off.
While I was in the jewelers trying to exchange my ring for a larger size, it became very clear that something had to be done about my bulging finger and the ill-fitting rings. I asked the shop assistant how I go about getting my rings cut off, and her response was that I should see a doctor. A doctor?! What does a doctor have to do with removing wedding rings? Do they have to suck the fat out of my finger in order to slide the rings off? Are there injections involved? Will it hurt? What sort of procedure is this?
She told me to talk to another jeweler down the road. “They would know more about it than we do,” she said. So off I went, with an additional, unauthorised purchase of a pair of love heart earrings.
The shop assistant at the other store was quick to point out that yes, they could remove the rings and that it could be done right there, in the shop, with little fuss. “Oh,” I said. “Will it hurt?” “I’ve been told this procedure calls for a doctor?” She looked at me like some sort of crazy lady and said, “I’ll get the jeweler.” Moments later he came out from behind the counter with some fancy jeweler tools and proceeded to talk me through the process.
In the end, it took less than five minutes and there was no pain at all. I hesitated and wondered if I should really be doing this on Valentines Day, but I was in the store and wanted to cut down my visits to the mall, so it was done.
I’m now waiting three weeks for the swelling in my finger to go down. My rings will be re-sized and my ring finger won’t feel so naked (or fat) anymore.
Happy Love Day lovers!! SJx
