Originally Posted By RoadTrip With this ring, I thee wed. My wife and I picked up our new wedding bands last night. When we got married we were poorer than dirt, so we had very plain wedding bands. Although I purchased my wife a nice diamond engagement ring half a dozen years ago, she thought it would be fun to upgrade our wedding bands too for our 30th anniversary. That way I could get something a little nicer too! I thought it was a great idea, but couldn't see waiting for our 30th (we are currently 28-1/2). We went to our favorite local jeweler a few weeks ago and picked out what we wanted. It took awhile to get them because they really needed a LOT of downsizing, and they had to find someone who was capable of doing it without making the ring look crummy. It was a men's wedding band, and I have very small fingers for a guy and of course my wife doesn't have guy fingers at all. The band was kind of mid-sized in width so it looks nice for both a man and a woman. We picked them up last night and they were beautiful. We bought bands that were mostly yellow gold, but across the top of the finger were white gold with six channel set diamonds. They weren't BIG diamonds... I'm not rich like the Dads (VB and DVC) you know. ;-) But they are beautiful and we love them. Ah yes, I need to get around to nostalgia. After picking up our rings we went out to dinner and were talking about how we hadn’t seen our wedding pictures in a LONG time. They got buried a couple of moves ago and we haven’t seen them for probably twenty years. We decided that we needed to make a real effort to find them this weekend. After thinking about that I of course had to look through the old photo albums that we DID have. Wow. Talk about a trip to the past (I was going to say down memory lane but decided it was too trite). The album I found covered years 8-22 or our marriage. It was the time period when we were in our second house. It was a great time. We moved in when our son was nine and our daughter was two. It was a brand new home, and we’d had it finished to our specifications. We were advancing in our careers and actually had a little money for the first time. We spent our early marriage eating a lot of macaroni and cheese and wieners. Going out was a monthly trip to McDonalds or Pizza Hut. The only movies we ever saw were at the drive-in so we wouldn’t have to pay for a baby sitter. Now we could actually afford (gasp!) things like Disney vacations. But looking through the albums, that wasn't really what made it such a great time. What made it such a great time was our family. My wife's parents were still alive then and I loved getting together with them... they were a couple of the nicest people I've ever known (no wonder they produced such a great daughter!). It was also a time of watching our kids grow. We used to take a picture of them in front of the fireplace every year on the first day of school. They probably hated it, but I’m sure glad we did. Those photos are priceless. Looking through the album made me cry. I cried because I knew that I hadn’t enjoyed those years as much as I should have. At that point in my life I seemed torn in so many ways that I didn’t really take the time to enjoy what I had. I really wish I had, but of course all you get is one chance. One thing that makes me feel good is that we apparently did a pretty good job as parents. Both of our kids are independent and successful. They also WANT (they ask us) to get together with us at least once a week. So now I can enjoy my adult children, and let me tell you… I enjoy them immensely. So DVC_dad... count your blessings. Each and every day. You have an absolutely wonderful experience that few of us guys ever get. I hope you know how special that is. I’m pretty sure you do.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Oh trippy, why did you have to go and make me cry? Thank you for sharing those lovely thoughts. I need to try to live more in the now! One thing I always admire about you is the love for your family. I think it's one of the things that really unites a lot of LPers
Originally Posted By gardenrooms RoadTrip, from your posts, I'd say you have done a much better job than most people do, and your relationship with your kids (any wife) shows that. I bet they have no regrets. As a working mom, I know I missed out on a lot, but my son never felt that way, he feels like he had a great life growing up - part of which is because I was working to make some things possible including trips to DL and WDW - lol - and that's what really counts to me. And Dave - I just looked at your wonderful pictures from Paris yesterday -looks like you're doing a pretty great job making a wonderful life for your family, too - what adorable and very lucky children - and enjoying the "now".
Originally Posted By disney pete still waiting for pics of the new rings trippy and i thought i was a romantic you got me beat hands down.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Thanks GArdenrooms - but I need to bring a bit more magic into the everyday I think.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<still waiting for pics of the new rings trippy >> I don't have a pic of the exact rings, but this is close. Ours have white gold across the top, and although the diamonds are about the same size as shown in the picture, there are only six on our rings. <a href="http://www.benbridge.com/store/files/detail/10213197.gif" target="_blank">http://www.benbridge.com/store /files/detail/10213197.gif</a> (At least the store is the same as where we got them!) LOL
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<As a working mom, I know I missed out on a lot, but my son never felt that way, he feels like he had a great life growing up>> Isn't that GREAT?? I think our kids truly do see our intentions and if the intentions are good they think they had a great childhood. Our son was born two years prior to our marriage (natural father was my wife's ex-husband). I adopted him after our marriage, but somehow always felt that I wasn't as good as his 'real dad' would have been. Then one day after he returned from the Navy we went to a local pub and had a great talk. We talked about EVERYTHING, including his childhood. He thought he had a fantastic childhood. He had more fun than I ever really realized, and always knew that I really loved him in spite of (perhaps because of) crabbing at him when he was going down the wrong path. My son said that I was his dad and that “Greaser Bob†his name for his natural father) meant nothing to him. The WONDERFUL thing I learned is that unless your kid is really unusual or you screw it up really bad, they LOVE you even though you don't think you gave them the perfect childhood.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<< I'm not rich like the Dads (VB and DVC) you know. ;-) >>> Yes well we can't ALL be rich. pffffft riiiiiight. My wedding band cost under $100 and I hope and pray I haven't given the impression that I think I am rich. I know many people that have a much larger and more expensive pot to pee in than me! <<< When we got married we were poorer than dirt >>> which means you married for love, and isn't that what it's all about? Those seem like the weddings that make it. I began going steady with my wife at the beginning of 9th grade. <<< What made it such a great time was our family.>>> ...and here is where I begin to get emotional reading your post damn you. <<< I cried because I knew that I hadn’t enjoyed those years as much as I should have. At that point in my life I seemed torn in so many ways that I didn’t really take the time to enjoy what I had. I really wish I had, but of course all you get is one chance. >>> ...and here is where I begin to really re-think who I am, what my role is, what I am doing, and how I am doing it. <<<we apparently did a pretty good job as parents. Both of our kids are independent and successful.>>> All I can say is AWESOME! <<<we apparently did a pretty good job as parents. Both of our kids are independent and successful.>>> You are the first MAN to ever tell me this. The impact of your statement is exponential.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad ^ ^ ^ should have read there at the last.... <<<You have an absolutely wonderful experience that few of us guys ever get. I hope you know how special that is. >>> You are the first MAN to ever tell me this. The impact of your statement is exponential. Sorry for srewing that up, and I'd like to say that I really HATE the fact that our mini-meet at Epcot a year or so ago didn't work out.
Originally Posted By bloona THat was lovely to read, thank you for sharing with us. The ring is perfect too. Congratulations to you both on finding each other and having a beautiful friendship x
