(Originally posted July 20, 2009)

Two weeks before we got married, J.J. and I bought our wedding rings. Matching plain gold bands with a little ring of etching at the top and bottom, they were very simple and inexpensive. But they were ours, and they showed the world that we were married, and we loved them. I still have mine, although it's been stored away for safe keeping. J.J.'s, on the other hand--well, let's just say that it's probably somewhere in our house. He remembers taking it off one night and placing it on his nightstand. When he went to get it the next morning, it was gone. It's been six years and we still haven't found it.

Over the years J.J. has discussed getting another wedding ring, but he's never found anything that was exactly what he wanted. Until we were in Ketchikan, AK. 14k yellow gold and black coral, this band was significantly more expensive than his first. Beautiful, strong and distinctive, it looked incredible on his finger.

For the next eighteen hours.

You see, it was really about a full size too big for J.J. when we picked it up from having it sized, but he thought it would be okay. He remembers having it on when we went to bed that night. He got up at 3:30 a.m. to go watch the sun rise (remember, in Alaska at this time of year, sunrise is realy early). He traveled to the top of the ship, realized it was raining, and headed back to our room. Which is where he discovered that his ring was missing.

We turned that cabin inside out looking for it before J.J. went to the front desk to report that it was missing. They sent Security to "help us look for it". Security all but strip searched us, making us turn out every pocket. They pawed through my purse, opened every drawer, even went through our dirty clothes and trash. Apparently it's fairly common for people to report a "just purchased" item of jewelry missing to commit insurance fraud. Whatever the case may be, it was a little much to take at 5:30 a.m. By the time Security left, I was furious with J.J. and with the whole situation.

Eventually I realized, so what? Yes, I would rather have had him not lose his ring, but I still have my husband and we're still married. That's what's important. Who knows, maybe his original ring will still turn up. If not, well, we can still buy another ring someday. I can almost guarantee that he'll get it sized right this time!

So in case you ever wondered, that's why J.J. doesn't wear a wedding ring. Feel free to tease him about it. Lord knows I do!