My Works

Possessions are possessions, easily destroyed and wear out over the years. How many Bibles have I written in, underlined passages, read and kept as a daily reminder to study the scriptures and learn more of my Lord and Savior. I protect the current Bible as I work through the pages again, but know once finished, I will place on a shelf and restart the process. But each Bible represents a time in my life and studies that accompanied the issues of young adulthood, motherhood, BSM, Resort, seminary and even teenage years.

The material possessions that mean the most and are part of my everyday life, are my engagement and wedding rings because they represent years of love and commitment of MY marriage. I doubt they would be meaningful if my husband had reneged on his vows. In fact the rings would represent adultery, sin, pain and would be symbols of dishonoring God and weak character symbolizing the inability to commit, not only to promises to each other but vows to God. They remind me that we are to be a witness through our marriage to the generation we represent in time. I love the miniature and solitaire engagement rings, and the wedding band. The wedding bands thinned out years ago, and we both have had replacement bands. But the memories are there and the vows of young adulthood come to mind when we consider the rings we always wear on our fingers.

The miniature of Terry’s USNA Class of 71 was my first engagement ring, given during the ring dance in 1970. It had diamonds encircling my birthstone, also in Terry’s ring. Because no one seemed to recognized it as an engagement ring, I complained to Terry that boys kept asking me out on campus, and when I stated I was engaged they said that my miniature was a class ring, not an engagement ring. We went to Tilghman’s Jewelry store in Annapolis and selected a traditional solitaire ring. We looked through individual diamonds and I selected an almost perfect smaller diamond, because I wanted the perfect cut. So, I have had 2 engagement rings my whole marriage. Now over 50 years later, the 71 class markings are greatly diminished on the miniature, the prongs on the solitaire have been fixed several times, but the meaning and loving sacrifice of those 2 rings continues through the years. They are my most precious possessions because of our marriage and the many years together symbolized. The self-sacrifice of even buying them is acknowledged in memories.

While celebrating 50 years of marriage together, we took the rings to Annapolis, with my 25th anniversary band of small diamonds, and Aunt Sissy’s engagement ring, given after mom’s death to me by Byron, my younger brother. We intended to design a ring representing 50 years of marriage together by using the stones in these heirlooms. Terry suggested we combine the two engagement rings, placing the solitaire diamond in the center of the original miniature. When looking at the possible outcomes, the result would be beautiful and very meaningful. Aunt Sissy’s diamond would be placed in the solitaire band and the 14 diamonds in the 25th anniversary band would be placed on either side, or at least a few on each side if some are crushed or broken. The smaller diamonds on each side of Aunt Sissy’s larger solitaire were used to replace 2 diamonds in the miniature circle around the larger center diamond, broken over the years. So, all stones came from a meaningful heritage of our 50 years of marriage. My original rings and Aunt Sissy’s and Uncle David’s marriage from a previous generation. I could hardly wait to see them and wear the 2 rings for the rest of my life and then to pass them down to the next generation, as I cannot take them with me. I can imagine that those wedding and engagement rings in relationships that are broken or in the death of a spouse can be symbols of pain and disappointment. But these rings are still meaningful and produce much joy in wearing them only because of faithfulness to one another, and the years God has given us in ministry together. I am grateful for the Holy Spirit reminding us to be a witness, teaching us to love deeper as the years pass, and giving guidance in working through the trials and disappointments of normal life. I am also thankful for God allowing the time, day by day, for 50 years and more together. We are very blessed.