I luv yoe more.

Twenty seven years ago today it was snowing like crazy. I remember this because it was our wedding day - the day when we vowed to love each other till death while we slipped bands of gold on our fingers. Wearing a ring doesn't make one any more married than not wearing one. However it is our accepted cultural symbol of matrimonial commitment.

On our 7th anniversary I got a second band made to fit the other side of the engagement ring.

After I had been wearing my wedding rings for 19 years they began to wear down a bit. I decided to have them soldered together to prevent the wear.

After being soldered, I could no longer wear them for more than a couple of hours or my finger got all raw and sore.

"I'm allergic to the metal they solder with, " was my reasoning.

But the fact is, they solder with gold. The self-same gold the rings are made of. The real reason for the raw finger was that the three bands together were quite wide and they fit significantly tighter than they did 40 pounds earlier on my wedding day and moisture would get trapped under them. Within a year I tucked them into a drawer and quit wearing them altogether.

Sometime around our 20th anniversary I was contemplating the verses in Exodus 21. That's where it talks about the slave being set free from his master, but if he chose of his own free will to remain with the master he would have his ear pierced to show his willing allegiance. And with that thought in mind, I took my virgin ear lobes to the jewelers and got two holes punched in my right lobe.

My reasoning: I am an adult. I live in a free country. I could leave this marriage if I choose. (Knowing full well I'd be a fool to do so.) But I chose to remain faithful and true to my original vow.

And my husband, accommodating as always, said, "If those holes are for wedding rings, then they'd better be diamonds and gold." And with that went off an bought me beautiful diamond earrings. He did an equally good job doing this as he had choosing my original finger rings.

And I have worn those earrings for 7 years as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to this man whom I love.

I'm not sure what prompted me, but on a whim a couple of weeks ago I dropped my rings off at Ken's Goldsmithing to have them resized. After 8 years it's fairly evident that I have no intention of losing any weight. As a last minute instruction to the jeweler I said, "Oh, and put bigger diamonds in them too." So he did.

Happy Anniversary Alb. I luv yoe.