07.08.19 Another Chapter

We just returned home from a great vacation.  We spent a week in Napa with my mother-in-law, her grandchildren (our adult children) and their partners. It was wonderful to spend time together and appreciate all the good things that have come out of the last 25 years. 

Some years have been better than others.






2003 was a pretty awful year.

That January, we traveled as a family back to Northern Virginia, where I grew up, to unveil my mother's headstone and the end the "official" period of mourning her death.  I put official in quotes, because it took me much, much longer than that to return to some semblance of normal, and not a day goes by that I don't still miss her.

That April, I turned 40 - and despite the big deal people make about it - I wasn't bothered at all.

My husband - with the help of a few of my fabulous girlfriends arranged a wonderful party - I celebrated, I made resolutions about getting more exercise and vowed to come out of my grief induced shell.

One week later I was in a horrible automobile wreck.  Most of the rest of 2003 was spent in pain, and in and out of the offices of doctors, lawyers and physical therapists.


In December of that difficult year, we had our 10th wedding anniversary - and my husband bought me a ring to mark the occasion. A beautiful anniversary band with ten diamonds, ten points each.  He did it with the help of the wonderful staff at Russell Korman. The ring came from Lieberfarb - a family owned jewelry company that specializes in wedding and anniversary bands.

I almost never take these rings off - except to make meatloaf, matzo balls or challah - and I always get compliments on the diamond band.  But, beyond its sparkle, it is a constant reminder of the strength of our marriage, and how fortunate I am to have such a supportive, generous man as my partner in life.

Fast forward 15 years. You might also remember that a couple of years ago, I joined the Women's Jewelry Association. Recently, they set up an online community called WJA Connect, and asked members to introduce themselves.

One of the members is a woman named Ann Arnold, she introduced herself as having grown up in her family's jewelry business - Lieberfarb.  I sent her a note about my ring, and she replied:

Photo credit: Together, Ann Arnold

Thank you so much for sharing! I am sending your message to my dad, it will make his day! Glad you are still enjoying the ring, it warms my heart. 

All my best
Ann

As we continued our email conversation, I learned that her father is a Holocaust survivor and that with him she has written a beautiful and powerful book - TOGETHER - A Journey for Survival.

Photo credit: Together, Ann Arnold

Ann and her father now travel and tell his story.  They are doing important work ensuring that that stories of those who survived - and those who did not - are never forgotten, and that we must all stand up to intolerance and injustice whenever and wherever we see it.

I'm now following Ann and her father on Facebook and Instagram - and you should, too.

I do believe that every piece of jewelry tells a story, and now there is another chapter in the story of my ring - of a family, and a man who endured far more than I did - but still believes in hope, perseverance, and the need for all of us to stand together.

Until next time.

03.07.16 Romancing the Stone

My husband are coming up on a quarter century together. They have been very happy and fulfilling years, in large part because we really do understand each other.  He is more pragmatic than romantic, so the transition from dating to engaged happened before there was a ring. 

Photo credit:
IGI-USA

He made very clear to me that while he had every intention of buying me a diamond, he wasn't going to be the one to choose - that would have to be me.  He said something along the lines of "I want to buy you a ring to wear forever, I don't want you to look at it every day hating it - and waiting five or ten years to tell me you want something else."

I had no problem accepting that - in fact - I was pleased that he understood me well enough to say so, and trusted me not to get upset when he did. I met with diamond brokers and jewelers, priced stones, bartered a little bit - and ended up with a carat-plus G color, VVS1, emerald cut stone in a four prong Tiffany setting.  I've worn it every day for more than 23 years, and I love it.

My engagement and wedding rings

Even after all this time together, he won't go out and buy jewelry for me on his own - he tells me to pick something out, or gets help from sales staff that know me (and makes sure it can be returned or exchanged).

My good friend Amanda's husband, John, is at the other end of the spectrum. Quite the romantic, John does purchase jewelry for her, and has from the beginning.  When he planned to propose, he bought a STUNNING diamond, and had it put in a simple setting, with the idea that they could go back anytime and set the stone in the ring of her choice.  She said yes, and off they went.

As we all know - life has a way of pushing non-critical tasks to the bottom of the priority list - and that's what happened to the engagement ring.  So, almost two decades (multiple job changes, three active boys, a cross country move, and an upgraded diamond and platinum wedding band) later - Amanda's diamond was still in its original setting, and languishing in her jewelry box.

On a visit to Austin (because that move was to the Pacific Northwest), Amanda asked me if I would go with her to look at new settings for her diamond.  You know I said yes!

We went to Russell Korman, where Amanda told Brooke (a member of their fabulous sales team) what she was looking for.  She'd given a lot of thought to what she wanted in a new setting - she wanted a bezel setting (no prongs), possibly a raised mount or cathedral shape (to put the engagement stone above her wedding band) and perhaps some additional side stones or a halo.

We discussed a lot of options - plain bands with a halo, channel set bands with a halo, matching the pattern of baguettes and channel stones in her band...and had a grand time pulling settings out of trays and looking at them up against her wedding band.

Amanda's "new" ring

She kept coming back to a Ritani setting - with a halo and a double row of channel set stones.  It looked really lovely with her wedding ring.

Although she didn't make a purchase that afternoon, Amanda did leave with a good sense of what she wanted - and planned to talk it over with John.

Well, John is a good listener, because for their 19th wedding anniversary (in February) he had the stone reset for her...and I'd say he picked a winner.

Until next time.