The elusive Precious

I love gemstones, but for some annoying reason I can’t hold onto them.

When I was a little girl my father brought home gifts from an overseas tour-of-duty. My two older sisters received beautiful rings encrusted with tiny gems. If I remember correctly, the rings were called “Princess” rings. Each ring had three tiers the upper tier was a diamond. Granted, the gemstones were really small but the rings were so elegant and lovely. I still remember how ceremonious my father made the evening and how he smiled when he gave each sister their ring. Later, after all the hoopla my father threw at my brother and me our gifts. I unwrapped my present with lightning speed to find a large ugly plastic ring with a dead ant inside the center of the ring. My brother got the same thing. While he was ecstatic about his present I was so disappointed that I couldn’t speak. As far as I could tell no one noticed my shock and life carried on.

Years later while still in high school, my elder sister toured Europe for several months while studying Art History in College. My parents gave her extra cash for her to purchase a few pieces of jewelry for the family. Each daughter was bought a ring. My sister Eve got a sapphire ring, Sybill an emerald and I a ruby ring. Three years later the ruby ring was stolen.

A few years after that incident I found an emerald ring at a jewelry store that I fell in love with. It took a year of making monthly payments before I was able to bring the ring home and wear on my finger. At nineteen and living on my own with a meager salary I was so proud of myself. Three months later I was grocery shopping in Albertsons when I reached for a bottle of soda off the shelf and my hand came in contact with sticky soda that was all over the bottle. I went into the bathroom took my ring off (put it in my shirt pocket) to wash my hands and went about my business. The next day I realized my ring was gone. I looked everywhere and no ring. I re-traced my steps and to no avail, the ring was gone. I called Albertsons hoping maybe it had turned up and the customer service rep said that she would check for me and call me back. No such luck.

Since the time I lost my emerald ring up to now, the few rings that I’ve acquired through the years have been lost, stolen or lost in freak accidents. So, when my husband asked me what type of engagement ring I would like I said, “none”.

Just for fun, since fate is against me owning rings, I can still dream. My favorite gems are emeralds, opals, and sapphires. I also adore black pearls. Do you have any favorites?