38.

38.

38 times we’ve moved over the course of the past 10 years together.

38 times of packing our lives up into rather small and constrained boxes.

38 times of lifting and heaving those boxes from an old home to a new home.

38 times of starting fresh.

38 times of spreading our love again in that new home.

I remember in year 8 when I lost my wedding ring during one of those moves,

I was SO devastated.

It was the ring you had bought me when we were still 2 young poor college students.

It was the ring you gave to me on that summer night,

A nervous smile on your face, teeth showing a little and a vein popping on the left side of your neck.

It was the first ring I ever accepted from you, from anyone.

And I had lost it.

Unexpectedly.

Surprisingly.

Than again.

That is when loss often happens.

It’s like an unwelcome guest that is forcing his way into your life.

All you can do, is accept its presence.

Deal with it.

And move on.

That’s what I did.

We did not have any money to replace it.

And for almost an entire year – 365 days – I was a wife without a ring.

My hand felt naked every time my gaze fell onto my ring finger.

Oh, how I’ve missed the soft weight of my ring!

Funny what you get used to at times and what you miss.

2 years later, almost for our 10 year anniversary, you presented me with another ring.

A ring SO beautiful and SO rare…just like you.

I remember how I fell in love with it from the first moment I saw it.

How I was drawn to its boldness – a deep red ruby as its centerpiece, surrounded by diamonds.

A ruby as rare as you.

This is my love letter to you, honey.

To a love as old as time itself.

Thank you for coming into my life.

Thank you for staying.

Thank you for being you.

I love you.