i lost my favorite ring. my mother gave it to me about 5 years ago and i was honored that she gave me something so beautiful and unique. it’s an antique cocktail spinnel ring with two tiny diamonds on the side. spinnel is a semi-precious stone that comes in loads of colors; it was often used as faux ruby or emerald. my spinnel was a gorgeous aqua shade that changed colors depending on what type of day it was: cloudy days it looked more like the ocean in malibu; sunny days it turned a baby blue.
the stone was rather big so i always took off the ring before washing my hands, otherwise soap and water would get stuck between the stone and my finger, creating soap scum buildup on its underside. i’m sure that yesterday i took it off to wash my hands in the bathroom or kitchen at work and, preoccupied, walked out without it.
so mostly i’m just mad at myself for not being more careful. (and i’m mad at that gnome who keeps taking my stuff.) i know there’s nothing i can do about it now but i’m sick over it. i realized it was gone at 5:30 yesterday after i’d already left work. i rushed back and searched everywhere: the bathroom, its garbage can, under the sink, in the kitchen, all around my desk. i put up a bunch of signs and asked the parking lot attendant if anyone had turned it in. no one had and he told me not to worry, it’d turn up, there are a lot of honest people in my building, once he dropped a wad of cash from his parking till and someone returned it to him, cash!, intact.
i called my father and he suggested that if i ever take off a ring to wash my hands i should put it in my mouth, that way i’d know where it is (uh, thanks, dad). i called my mother and she was more sympathetic and sorry. she reminded me that it’s just a ring, to which i said: yeah, but why that ring—- the only one i have that’s worth anything, that has meaning and style, why not a throw-away who cares ring? and she said, at least you have your health, and haven’t you and i been talking about how we need to hoe out our loads of stuff? out with the old, in with the new? (or in with the more zen-like nothing at all?) it made me feel better. a little bit.