Yesterday I got engaged. It's been unspoken for the past five or so
years, but yesterday we finally made it official. After seeing so many
loveless marriages, of friends especially, we decided to be
sensible about things. When we're both where we want to be in
life, then marriage will be on the cards, if the fire is still there. I
have no doubt it will but, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.
I wanted her ring to be as unique and special as she was. I wracked
my brains for years trying to think of what I could give her that nobody
else could. Then it struck me. I have something in a box somewhere,
that for a period of time was the only thing that was holding me
together. Without it, I probably wouldn't be able to walk today. A
lifetime ago, I was playing rugby and suffered a very, very nasty
injury. I've always been a big guy, so I'm a natural target for people
wanting to prove themselves. And prove themselves they did. My left leg,
from the knee up, was almost completely ruined. Three breaks, one of
them dangerously close to the hip. Surgery was the only option, and I
had metal plates and screws put in my leg.
I recovered, eventually. It was a long, painful process made even
more painful by the removal of the plates. One is still inside me, they
couldn't safely remove it. They let me keep the others, as momentos of
one of the worst times of my life. These are the only ones like it in
the world. There may be similar ones, but none like these.
So I gave her what nobody else could give her, a ring made from the
melted down plate that saved me. Without it, I wouldn't be where I am
today, and without her I'd be in much the same situation. A match made
in heaven.
Thankfully she's the kind of girl who, not finding it incredibly creepy or cheap, absolutely adores it.