When my grandparents got married on December 24, 1927, the country was in a recession and money was tight. My grandfather owned a matching set of six-guns that he cherished, but he loved Grandma more. He sold them to cover the wedding expenses and buy her a ring. Though he never managed to get them back, he always felt he came out ahead. I wonder if he always wished he could have afforded a ring, but there were just more important things to consider.
When times were tough, Grandpa chose to go without a wedding ring so Grandma could have one. He valued having a wife and family more than a piece of jewelry. His instincts proved right, as they enjoyed 52 years of marriage before Grandpa went home to be with the Lord. Their life together was blessed with 9 children, as well as with countless grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great-great-grandchildren. If anyone questioned the lack of wedding ring, I’m sure Grandpa set them straight concerning his loyalty to his beloved wife.
Years later, when their second child, my aunt Virginia Beadle, was around 8 to 10 years old, all the kids were playing outside. Aunt Virginia was the second of my grandparents nine children. She wandered over to the side of the house, between Grandma and Grandpa’s place and Great Grandma’s, where a flower garden grew. Glancing down, she spotted a man’s wedding ring in the soil, likely unearthed during gardening, and maybe having been there for years. She had no way of knowing how long it had been there, and she knew of no one who could have lost the treasure. Thrilled by her discovery, she scooped it up and ran inside to show her parents what she had discovered.
Grandpa looked at it and told her it was a beautiful ring. He put it on his hand and looked at it. It fit him perfectly. Then he took it off and gave it back to Aunt Virginia. She said, “Daddy, you should keep it.” He said he couldn’t, but she insisted!! She couldn’t think of a better person to receive the treasure she had found, than her sweet daddy…and that is how my grandfather got his wedding band from his daughter. Aunt Virginia was so 
pleased to be able to give her dad the wedding ring he had never had and would not be able to buy for himself, as there were too many other things that his paycheck was needed for. And Grandpa was so pleased that she wanted him to have such a beautiful ring. He wore the ring proudly for the rest of his life. And everyone in his family was very pleased that he had been blessed with the ring. While it wasn’t a birthday gift, it was still one of the best gifts ever given or received. Today would have been my Aunt Virginia Beadle’s 96 birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Aunt Virginia. We love and miss you very much.
Leave a Reply