I guess I should include Meg Ryan too, if I am going to point fingers. After watching 'You've Got Mail' and 'Sleepless In Seattle' countless times yes, I believe in "Magic."
But real, not movie, magic is probably what is needed to make my dream come true - my dream of finding my silver wedding band.
I have written about this before. The sad tale of a girl who, along with her husband, boarded an ocean kayak only to be hit by a sudden wave. The wave knocked both occupants out of the vessel and, as I fell beneath the water, I felt my band slip off my finger. It was gone. Lost in the depths of the blue/green water.
Even though it was 18 years ago, I never really gave up hope that one day it might return to me. Yes, a bit unrealistic I admit. But if Tom Hanks could find the love of his life across the country, I could find my ring washed up on the beach.
My tale becomes a little more plausible when I tell you we often return to the same beach each year. We may not be at the same house, but we've stayed pretty close. Each vacation, I take walks up and down the beach - hoping some silvery glimmer will catch my eye and close this unfinished chapter in my life.
The wedding band was my mother's so to me it is irreplaceable, but she even admits my hope in finding it is a little far fetched. As a little girl I remember seeing that plain thick band on her finger or laying on the counter when she was making meatloaf and thinking there was not a finer ring in the land. I still feel that way although I've always wanted a replica of Princess Diana's sapphire engagement ring. But, I digress.
While we were away last week, again it was my mission to find my ring. I took walks each morning and even spoke with a nice gentleman with a metal detector. We were far from where I actually lost my ring, so I didn't have hopes that he would find it, but he did regale me with stories of the items he has found.
Oh, that my story would have a similar ending.
At the end of our conversation he actually said something quite profound to me. "My good day is someone's bad day." But that sentiment changes if he is able to reunite someone with their lost item, which he did recently with a set of car keys.
The second to last day of our trip, a pretty hefty storm blew through. It was dark and nasty. The waves were really crashing and it was terribly windy. But after the storm, there was a lovely rainbow. As I admired the colors and took photos, it seemed like the rainbow's end was just over the area where we had stayed 18 years ago. I thought maybe, just maybe, the storm liberated my ring from the depths of the ocean and washed it ashore. And, as if Nora Ephron was directing me herself, I was off on a journey.
The walk down the beach was pleasant at first - still following the rainbow's glow. But at some point I realized I had a long way to go and at that moment I was already committed, so there was no giving up. I began hallucinating at one point and thought I actually saw Tom Hanks who I imagined would speak to me softly and say the words I wanted to hear "Kristen, are you looking for this?"
My sweet husband, back at the beach house knew I was in over my head and brought the car down the road. Once he parked, we met up close to the exact spot of infamy and briefly looked together for my lost jewelry.
To be honest, I really didn't look that hard when we got there. Something happened to me during what turned out to be a 2 mile walk. (Besides losing feeling in my legs.) I realized, finally, that my ring was gone for good. I let it go just like Elsa from the movie Frozen sang. I let it go and was actually at peace. I wasn't going to look in the sand anymore. I wasn't going to hold out hope that one day the ring would reside on my finger. I LET IT GO and it felt good.
I've been married almost 20 years and at this point no hardware is needed. Don't get me wrong - if I find a 14K Artcarved white gold band on Ebay, reasonably priced, this girl is getting it, but the things I have accumulated during the past two decades are worth more than the ring I lost. I have lots of great beach memories, which outweigh the one dark day. And as I wrote before, with my ring sitting comfortably beneath the waves, part of me will always be at the beach and all I have to do is close my eyes to return to the place I love the most.
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