beyond cinderella

Our little Katie, Bill’s daughter, my step-daughter, and her boyfriend, Josh, just got engaged this past Sunday. We are so happy and excited to welcome Josh into our family.

When my husband, Bill, asked me to marry him, he gave me a beautiful diamond and ruby engagement ring. Bill told me later that he had my engagement ring made, and that he helped design the channel setting, picked out the diamonds, and even had the ruby’s special ordered. I was so touched at the effort he put into having my ring made just the way he wanted it to be for me. Bill proposed to me beside the Chapel in the Rock, in Sedona Arizona, just as the sun was coming up over the mountains…

When Bill and I married, he gave me the wedding ring to match the engagement ring.

When Bill and I were married 10 years, he bought me another beautiful wedding set as well as a 10 year anniversary ring that I had welded together. Bill took me to the Redwood Forest and presented the new wedding set and anniversary ring to me.

So, since I didn’t want to wear two sets of wedding rings, I decided to give our little Katie the wedding set her dad had made for me. I let her know she could do what ever she wanted with the rings, i.e. wear them, store them, or pass them down to her daughters when they got old enough to appreciate them.

Katie and I have always had a special bond, and when I gave her my wedding set, she cried, as did I, and said she loved them, and would always keep them in the family.

On Sunday, when Katie called to say Josh proposed to her, she said he used the engagement ring my husband, Bill, had made for me… This is that ring.

Katie said she and Josh decided they wanted to get married using the wedding set I gave her. Then, just as Bill and I did, they will get a new wedding set for their ten-year anniversary, and pass the wedding set I gave Katie down to one of their daughters when they get married… I was so touched, and of course, I cried… I told Katie I thought that would be a beautiful way to keep her dad and I a part of their lives, and hoped her marriage, and anyone who wears those rings in the future, will be as happy and Bill and I have been.

Congratulations Katie and Josh. We love you, and thank you for making this a beautiful “family tradition“!

Stay Tuned!