  urlLink Ren inspired this post . Thanks urlLink Ren . 16 years ago, I put a plain, simple, no frills solid gold band on Tommys left ring finger. When I bought the ring, I didn't think that much about the design, or anything else. I jjust knew I wanted one thick enough to keep the vultures away from him. You know women have a thing about men in uniform, and at that time, he was in the air force.
That gold band had to outshine any pin, patch, or anything else on those fatigues. This past Christmas, I put a different gold band on that same finger. This one looked exactly like the first one, it just gleamed more, and is slightly bigger. I noticed late last fall that Tommy was having to take his ring off alot. During the night, his fingers swell, and he would have to take the ring off to keep it from turning blue. So I decided to get him a new ring.
I surprised him for the first time, at Christmas. The old ring, well, it is on my finger. The ring finger of my left hand in fact. I wear it now, instead of my original ring. Which I moved to the pinky finger of my left hand. Why?
Simple, wearing Tommy's ring makes me feel closer to him. It has slowly over the years molded to his shape. The knicks were put there by him. Every scratch was put there while he was working, playing, building our son's high chair, fixing the flat on my car, or the many times he has had to get under the house to fix busted water pipes. I know he doesn't have a clue how each scratch got there, neither do I, but I can look at that ring and see him working hard to make life better for us. That ring is part of him.
Part of us. Part of our history. I wear it to honor him. It doesnt' have his smell, but it has his shape. I never take it off. My rings, go off my fingers as soon as I walk in the door.
But not Tommy's, it stays put no matter what I am doing. I plan on keeping it that way. 
