With this ring….
After asking Rachel to marry me, I thought we might continue our walk. She had another idea. Rachel said, “I want to go to the car and call the jewelry stores and see if they’re still open.”
We did. They were. We went.
Hot. Sweaty. Tickled pink….we went to the mall, y’all.
On the drive, I called my Mom for Mother’s Day. I dialed. She answered. I said, “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! Sorry I called so late, but I wanted to wait and call until you until I had your gift.”
“My gift?”
“Yeah, your gift…”
“What’s my gift?”
“A daughter-in-law! Here, talk to her…” And I handed Rachel my phone. They talked for a bit as we drove to the mall. I give the best Mother’s Day gifts….
After arriving at the mall, we stopped by the food court restrooms to wash our hands. I mean, who tries on engagement rings with dirty hands? Come on, people!
Then, we hit a few jewelry stores. Rachel found what she was looking for at the first store we visited and talked to someone. But, she wanted to look around a bit longer. So, we tried two other stores. At the third store, we saw the exact ring from the first store. We said, “That looks like the ring at Gordon’s.” The lady said, “It is. We’re the same company…” Oh, well we learned something about jewelry stores.
While looking at the same ring as Gordon’s, we noticed another ring. A little nicer. A little more expensive. A lot prettier. Rachel tried it on and I thought, “Bingo! Here’s my credit card.” But, ring shopping doesn’t happen that way.
So, we looked at other rings. Rachel continued to wear the nicer ring. We looked at the original ring. She tried it on again. But, we kept coming back to the nicer ring. She asked my opinion. I said, “Darlin’, you are only getting engaged once. Get the ring you like best. I like the nicer ring. It looks great on you and I think you’ll be happy with it for a long time.” (Obviously, the sales lady agreed with me. It’s more $$$.)
So, Rachel decided on the nicer ring. I handed the lady my well-worn Discover card and watched it pass with flying colors. We had us an engagement ring! And, we bought her wedding band at the same time. It was a set.
As we were leaving the mall, I said, “How come the dude doesn’t get an engagement gift? Maybe like engagement sunglasses? Or, engagement running shoes?” Can we start a new tradition, America?
After leaving the mall, I said, “Where to now?” Rachel wanted to go to her small group meeting from church, even though we were way late, and share the news. So, we did…
