My husband’s wedding ring

This has very little to do with parenting, but it is about relationships – sort of – and the things you lose and how they sometimes come back.

Before kids, my husband and I used to spend our weekends in Bayview, Idaho, sailing our ’73 Coronado on Lake Pend Oreille. After our eldest son was born, we just couldn’t keep the boat. It was hard to sail with an infant on board, especially after he started crawling. I was so paranoid that he would fall overboard and drown.

So we sold it. But during one of our last sailing days, Ted lost his wedding band. The gold ring had always been a little loose, but somehow, he didn’t notice that it had slipped off his finger. We were both convinced that it had fallen in the water, lost forever at the bottom of Lake Pend Oreille.

It’s hard to replace sentimental objects such as wedding rings. Ted had planned on renting scuba gear and scouring the bottom of the lake near the marina, but he never did. Ringless after few months, he went to a pawn shop and spent $20 on a cheap silver band.

After a few years, I finally stopped getting angry every time I thought of the lost ring. Then soon after that, it didn’t even cross my mind at all.

Until… tonight. A guy named Mark called and asked him, “Did you lose something shiny on your old boat?”

Mark bought the Coronado from the couple who bought it from us. He discovered it in the battery compartment — in the boat’s hull, and was kind enough to track Ted down.

The sudden return of my husband’s wedding ring has brought back all these memories – of those carefree days before kids; of beautiful Bayview; of the months after our son was born as we tried to reconcile our outdoor pursuits with the reality of parenthood.

So we lost the boat. And the ring. And a little bit of our old selves.

But we have two great kids and enough adventure. Now the ring is back, so that must be a good sign.