So, I’m a bit sentimental.

I’ve always been one to attach sentimental value to things. Stuffed animals, books from my childhood, preschool art projects – I’ve even saved most of my writing projects throughout my life and every diary and journal I’ve ever had. I also convinced my husband that we needed the house I grew up in when my parents decided to move. I’m sure everyone else saw it, but I never really realized it until today. Today when I almost lost it at the jewelry counter to be exact.

I realized yesterday that the month of September is almost over and I hadn’t taken my rings to be inspected yet. I have to have them inspected every six months to keep my warranty, so today I headed to Zales after the children’s church meeting. I’m not sure what I was expecting. I knew they needed to be rhodium dipped. I’ve had jewelry cleaned and repaired by them before, but for some reason it never occurred to me that they might have to send my rings in to have the rhodium done.

There were only two people working in the store today, and both were busy – one with a couple picking out an engagement ring/wedding band set and the other with a young guy picking out a ring for his girlfriend. I waited patiently, getting a bit misty-eyed as I watched the guy get so excited about showing the ring he had picked out to a friend who had come with him. When the salesgirl finished, I explained what I needed, and she started talking about their jeweler. She explained that their current jeweler was leaving, and they had already signed with a new one. I was only half listening until she said that to have it rhodium dipped, the new company would take 14-21 days to get my rings back to me! I started to panic. I couldn’t even speak for a few seconds. I’m fairly certain she saw tears welling up in my eyes. My first thought was, ‘Nevermind! I don’t care!‘ Then I realized that at some point it would have to be done. At some point I would have to give them up, even if it wasn’t for another 2 years, and by that point they would not be a pretty sight. I asked if I could send them one at a time. She said, yes, that could be done. I think she was still afraid this solution would send me over the edge and leave me blubbering there in the middle of the mall. Honestly, it might have. Thankfully, she felt pity for me and offered another solution. She offered to send it to another of their employees that had been doing some work for them recently to help catch them up while they were switching jewelers. She went to check with him and came back to say, “How about Wednesday?” Had it not required jumping over the counter, I would have hugged her. I’m really sorry I didn’t get the girl’s name today. Hopefully she will be there again on Wednesday, and I can really thank her. I said, “Thank you,” today, but I’d like to really thank her again.

Until Wednesday though, I’m wearing a replacement set I bought at Claire’s. I just couldn’t stand going around with a naked finger. This set certainly isn’t as pretty or comfortable as mine, but it will due until Wednesday morning.