A diamond in the rough

I pulled into the parking space and looked at my watch. I had an hour before I needed to get back to the newsroom and finish up the story I was working on for the next day’s paper. I sat quietly in my car, the air conditioning on full blast, and thought one more time about my plan. I felt good about it. I felt at peace, but I wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I sat there for another five minutes, before finally, getting out and walking into the store. 

As soon as I walked in, an older woman behind the counter greeted me. She asked me what I was looking for and if I had something special in mind. I took a deep breath and told her I was looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend. As soon as I said the words, they sounded strange coming out of my mouth. It was the first I was telling anyone of my plan. I felt like I needed to recall them as quickly as possible. A few months earlier I couldn’t imagine getting married and spending my life with anyone, now I couldn’t imagine anything else.

On top of that, shopping for an engagement ring was something an adult did. Was I really an adult now? I still felt like a misfit kid, play acting in the real world. I half expected the woman to tell me that this was serious business and I should come back when I was a little older.

Instead, the woman put aside whatever she was doing, smiled and asked me about my girlfriend. I told her that I had been dating her for the past year traveling every weekend from Central Pennsylvania to visit her in Alexandria, Virginia. I left late Friday night after work, and didn’t drive back home until late Sunday night, leaving just enough time to brush my teeth and grab some shut-eye, before I had to get up for work Monday morning. The woman told me I was lucky to find someone.

Picturing a future together

Oh, my girlfriend and I had talked about our relationship and where we were headed, but the proposal would be a surprise for her. When we went to Pentagon City or Tysons Corner, two big malls in Northern Virginia, we would always stop and look at the engagement rings in the jewelry store windows, but, at the same time, we wanted to take things slow.

I’ve always been reticent around strangers, it takes me a while to open up, but I found myself telling the woman how proposing felt right to me. I told her how coming home late each weekend had driven home the idea to me that I had found my best friend. I told her that my girlfriend was the first person I thought of when I started my day and the last person I wanted to talk to when I ended it. When I thought about my future, my girlfriend was center in my mind.

The woman smiled at me. I’m sure she’d heard and seen it all. We talked all the things jewelers talk about, including color, cut, clarity, carat weight, and certification of the diamond. We talked dollars too. Yea, that mattered. In the end, I picked out a diamond that wasn’t the biggest or the smallest, but seemed to match my girlfriend’s personality. (I remember wishing I had a sister because I could’ve used a female opinion. In the end, I went with my gut and picked the diamond that spoke to me.)

The Proposal takes shape

I set up a payment plan, they were still a thing then, and I walked out of the store. I would make several monthly payments and the diamond would be mine. I wouldn’t propose for a few more months, and we would wait another year to get married, but I was pleased that my plan was coming together. When I finally did propose, my girlfriend broke down in tears, scaring me at first, and then filling me with joy and happiness.

My wife and I will celebrate 30 years together in a few weeks and, over the years, I’ve thought a lot about my visit to the jewelry store. I could have gotten waylaid by a million different things, but I was determined to follow my heart. When I left the store, my feet barely touched the ground. I walked out realizing that I had found the missing piece of the puzzle, the missing piece of me that I never knew was missing, but, in the end, needed desperately. 

Thank goodness I followed my heart.

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