I guess I never fully explained the story of my stunning engagement ring. My Godfather, Uncle Carl (who was actually my Mom's uncle), was one of my most favorite people in the world. He was married to my grandmother's sister, and even after Aunt Alice's sudden death - and him remarrying - he still remained a big part of the family. Uncle Carl was almost 60 when I was born, but I still had so many connections with him. He was a typesetter for the Youngstown Vindicator newspaper for years. He would share stories of the newspaper industry, the deadlines, the changes in machinery, I found it all so interesting (maybe that's where my love of newspapers started?). I would write to him through high school and college and send newspaper articles I had written or photos I had published. He'd always write back with an enchanting story and how proud he was of me.
After he passed away in 2011, my Mom gave me a fancy black box, in it, a necklace. It was a gold choker with 9 graduated brilliant cut diamonds. My Uncle Carl had bought it for Alice and later had given it to my Mom, who wore it on her wedding day. My Mom recognized that I wasn't much of a gold (or a choker) kind-of-girl, and that the clasp was a little iffy, so wearing it in general could be a little dicey. She said that maybe one day I could use it as a ring, or trade it in for something I would actually wear. We kept it in her jewelry box for a year or so, then I approached Mike.
"I'm going to give you this and I'm not going to ask about it, or look for it, or say anything else...but if you ever wanted to use this as an engagement ring, you can." That's what I told Mike in late 2012 and didn't see the necklace again until March 2014, as an engagement ring.
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| photos by DCPG photography + design |
Mike worked with the jeweler at Either Ore in Strawbridge who created a couple different custom designs. Since the diamonds were all different shapes (the one in the necklace center was the biggest, and they all decreased in size from there), it certainly wasn't an easy task. The diamond cluster came out just brilliant. After six years of dating, when Mike took the ring out of his pocket as he was proposing, all I could think was, "Oh my goodness, did he really do it?! Is this really it?" - concerning the ring, and not the actual proposal, haha. Of course I immediately snapped out of it and listened to all his sweet words, then the cheers of all the tourists who had gathered around our picnic on Colonial Williamsburg's grounds. It was certainly a perfect day, and the most perfect way to hold dear of piece of someone so very special to me.