March 2018 - I lost a diamond from my wedding ring. This would be distressing to any wife, but I was particularly upset because I was about to leave on another trip to Thailand to see my Dad who's cancer fight was coming to an end, and there was no time to get my ring fixed before I left.
I hated flying without it. I hate to fly as it is and flying without my ring felt like bad luck. But you gotta do what you gotta do. So, I left my ring behind with my boys and pressed on.
It's funny how these little things serve as such powerful reminders of who we are that it can be difficult to go without them. For me, it was yet another way that I would feel separated from my husband and family when traveling so far away, almost like I was going back in time to just be a daughter of a Dad in need and not the married-with-child grown up version of myself I left behind.
In retrospect, I think that's what needed to happen to remind me to focus on the mission ahead and keep myself from thinking too much about the heartbreak over having once again left my boys alone, and not for something fun, but to only endure a totally different and infinitely deeper heartbreak on the other side of the world.
Now that I'm home for good, I still haven't fixed my ring. Dad passed in June so there was one more trip for his funeral after this one but I was on a plane so fast that time I didn't even think about my missing lucky charm. I guess it's no longer a priority now that I get to be around my boys again everyday. They are and always will be my greatest treasure.
