Wedding Rings by J. S. Marlo

 

 

J. S. Marlo's BWL Books

I welcomed a daughter-in-love last month. She is the love of my son’s life, and I couldn’t have picked a better woman for him.

After they got engaged last Christmas, my new daughter and I shared some interesting conversations about wedding rings. She’d read that the wedding ring is supposed to go first on your finger, then you slip the engagement ring back afterward, so she was wondering when or if she was supposed to switch her engagement ring to her right hand before putting it back to her left ring on top of her wedding ring.

I’ll admit staring a bit weirdly at her, only because I had never heard of wearing the wedding ring first. When I got married thirty-eight years ago, there was no Internet. New couples basically followed the traditions set by their parents/grandparents. My mother and my grandmothers wore their engagement rings next to their knuckles, then when they got married, their husbands slipped their wedding bands on top. There was no taking rings off or switching hands. It was simple and straightforward.

So, I did some research on the Internet about wedding rings, and stumbled on some very unusual ones along the way.

The first wedding rings are believed to date back to ancient Egypt, some 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Egyptians wore their rings on the fourth finger of the left hand, believing that a vein from that finger led directly to the heart. The Romans call this the “vena amoris”, or “vein of love”.

The early Asian civilizations were certainly not as romantic as the Romans. Weddings were seen as a legal contract between a man and a woman, and the wedding rings were considered a physical representation of that binding contract. Therefore,

couples would seal their marriage with puzzle wedding rings which would immediately fall apart if they tried to remove them from their fingers.

Wearing your wedding ring on the left hand is not a global tradition, mainly for one of these two reasons:

-  The word left is derived from the Latin word meaning sinister. Therefore, wearing it on the left hand is considered unlucky or evil.

-  In the Bible it was the practice to wear rings on the right hand, the hand of authority and power, completing the pledge of commitment.

This holds true in countries like Russia, Poland, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Latvia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and India.

Interestingly enough, in Sweden and Chile, it is not just brides-to-be that receive engagement rings, men wear them too.

In many cultures, it was traditional for only the woman to wear a wedding ring, but it changed during World War II. Many servicemen began wearing their wedding rings as a sign of commitment and as a way to remember their wives while stationed overseas.

As far as which ring should come first? My new daughter was right about most traditions favoring the wedding ring, but it is also not uncommon to stack them starting with the first one that was received. So, like me, she is wearing her wedding ring on top of her engagement ring.

Happy Reading & Stay Safe

JS

 

 

J. S. Marlo's Website

 

Life Is Good

 

Of course everyone knows that  life is a constant change. We age, lose our job, or quit, or finally retire Ah, retirement - the Golden Years.  Our children are raised, married, and on their own. Maybe we have grandchildren - and maybe, as in my case, you've been blessed with great grandchildren.

You finally have time for yourself, to travel, to enjoy life. At least that's the plan.
Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. Sometimes health issues arise and you have to set plans aside.
Recently the doctor put my husband on oxygen at night. He has COPD - emphysema to be exact. Comes from years of smoking. He was doing pretty well, or so we thought. He's gone through three pulmonary doctors - they keep leaving the practice and moving on to better things I guess. The first two kept telling him the longer he could stay off oxygen the better.
The first visit with the third doctor, he asked if hubby used oxygen at night.  He seemed quite surprised when we said no. So he scheduled a test that would monitor his blood oxygen level while he slept.
Next thing I knew, Medical Supplier called to set up a time to drop off the oxygen. It would

have been nice if the doctor's office would have called and told him that. He had an appointment later that month to learn the results. Seems to me the results were obvious and I almost cancelled the appointment. Glad I didn't. After several nights using the oxygen, hubby started snoring - he hasn't snored in like forever - and he became very restless. I swore if he hit me in the back one more time I was going to take the oxygen tube and wrap it around his neck. No, I really wouldn't have done it, but it was tempting.
 Thing is, I have enough trouble sleeping without someone punching me in the back and waking me . Needless to say, I spent many sleepless nights. Sleeping on the couch wasn't an option - it's only a love seat, and there aren't any other beds in the house. I was stuck with him. You'd think with a queen-size bed he'd have enough room to stay on his own side. But, no, he'd lay on his back and fling his arm out and bam, right in the middle of my back.
Turns out when they brought the oxygen they neglected to hook up the water bottle for humidity.  Of course the doctor immediately wanted to do a sleep study, as he wrote out the prescription for the water bottle. We declined. Hubby doesn't have sleep apena. They brought the water that afternoon and walla, he's been sleeping peacefully ever since.

But... on a lighter note, life isn't always bad. My son recently got engaged and one of my granddaughters whose been trying to have a child is now getting one to adopt . The baby is due Nov.10th.  Of course everyone is excited and my daughter had a shower for her in October.
A new baby girl is expected soon. And...we found out earlier this year, my grandson is expecting his second child Dec. 16th.  Another girl. How exciting is all that?
So, life is good. Our church got a new pastor in September, we've been without one for two years. We had him, his wife, mother, and son for dinner a couple weeks ago.
They're from Colorado and never heard of perogi. I was more than happy to make some for them.  We enjoyed the evening and they said they enjoyed the perogi, especially their little boy.  In fact,  we had them over again for cabbage and noodle and the little guy asked if I made perogi again. I said no and he said, "make them next time we come over, okay."  Well of course i said yes. Next plan is chicken paprikash. Yes, I'm making them traditional Slovak dishes. Pastor's wife is Indonesian, but she seems to enjoy the food.
So, all in all, life is good.