50 Years of Eternal Love but Less-than-Eternal Rings
A
wedding ring traditionally represents a circle of eternity – without beginning
or end, and it has been used as a marriage symbol since the early
Egyptians. In the long courtship and
marriage of Raymond and Sylvia, wedding rings were not eternal. In fact in the beginning, they were an
afterthought.
Sylvia
had waited and waited for Raymond to ask her to marry him. She was certain that this was her destiny. Raymond was much less certain. He saw himself as a gypsy flamenco guitarist,
traveling the world in search of the perfect falsetta – somehow marriage was
just not in his plans. However, between her
persistence and his fear of losing her forever, Raymond finally changed his
mind and sent a telegram inviting her to share his mailbox with the memorable words,
“No hay musica sin ti”… The rest is history.
Since
neither parents approved of the marriage, Sylvia boarded a Greyhound bus with
$25, a corsage pinned on her best jacket and headed off to begin her new life. At the last moment, Sylvia’s mother gave her
the wedding ring that Sylvia’s dad had given her mom many years ago – in case
Raymond didn’t have one for her.
Not
only did Raymond not have a ring, he too had only $25, so ring shopping was
obviously not their first priority. In a
simple ceremony at the Houston courthouse, they married and Raymond placed the
ring on Sylvia’s finger. It was a little
big, so they found a tiny ring sizer to keep it on her finger. Somehow between the time they married and left
for Spain, the too-large ring finally fell off, and they could never find it. They boarded a freighter for their new adventures
in Europe just as Sylvia had begun her journey to Texas – full of anticipation
and no ring.
After
some time in Spain, Raymond decided that Sylvia really should have a ring. At a rastro (or flea market), Raymond found a
small gold decorated ring that Sylvia loved and wore proudly, but it later
turned her finger green, and they worried about what the ring was actually made
of. When it was time to leave Spain and work in
Norway, the young couple left Spain full of anticipation and no ring.
They
settled into the cold unforgiving Norwegian climate and worked very hard for 1
and ½ years. During that time, they made
some extra money, and Raymond decided he would try again to buy Sylvia a
ring. This time they settled on a lovely
Pewter ring they both loved. The ring was dainty and easy to wear, and it fit
perfectly. With the ring problem solved,
they headed back to Spain. However,
this ring was not going to survive either.
One day, it just broke into two pieces.
Sylvia still has part of the ring, but it couldn’t be repaired. The young couple returned to the United
States and began their lives here – full of anticipation and no ring.
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