There’s one thing for sure about hubby and me: we are as different as a poodle and a great dane. I’m a night owl, he’s a morning bird. I’m frugal, he’s generous. I’m neat, he’s …, well, you get the picture. 😉

Another thing we’re complete opposites in is the way we wear our wedding rings. In all the years that we’ve been married, I’ve only taken mine off when I was pregnant (and bloated); he takes his off several times a day. Whether it’s because he’s washing his hands or putting on lotion or fixing something around the house, more often than not, hubby goes around ringless. He also ends up forgetting where he put his ring, and I (or one of the kids) will spot it on the kitchen counter or bathroom sink or dining table and return it to him.

Our family game of “lost and found” has worked well for many years … until now. You see, it’s been over a month since anyone has seen hubby’s ring and all of our attempts at locating it have failed (even the one where he offered the kids a $10 reward; you can imagine how hard they tried to find it then!).

Which is why hubby and I decided to go to the mall on a recent date night to peruse the jewelry stores. This was actually our first time shopping for wedding rings because we had gone the Asian route (aka. cheap and efficient) when we got married and had his dad pick up matching bands for us in Hong Kong (he used to be in the jewelry business). We figured it was time to choose a new set ourselves and as a pre-celebration of our 15th anniversary next year.

So, there we were heading to the first jewelry store when hubby reached down and took my hand. He held it tight, placing his warm palm against mine.

I looked over in surprise at his sudden display of affection.

He then grinned at me and said, “We should look like we’re in love.”

HA HA! (Yes, I married a funny one.)

Sure, hubby was joking, but part of me started thinking that we probably don’t look as “in love” now as we did when we first got together. Back in those early days, I remember we held hands ALL. THE. TIME. We held hands while we rode in the car, while we walked from the parking lot to our destination (ie. the movies/park/store/restaurant/mall), and back again.

Somewhere along the way, however, we stopped reaching for the other’s hand. Life happened, and our hands got full with long hours at work, dirty diapers and other things that took our time and attention away from each other. There’s no doubt that our relationship has grown and deepened a lot over the years, but it’s lost some of the sweetness that fueled it in the first place.

Thankfully, our evening as an “engaged couple” brought it back to us. We held hands more that night than we probably had in a long time. And it was nice to connect in that simple, yet powerful way.

There was one thing we found out though that was not so nice. Rings cost a lot more now than they did fifteen years ago. It’s going to cost us a bit of money to buy new wedding rings, but ultimately, the lesson learned from doing so is priceless. 🙂

Here’s a super cute song, “Here Come Those Eyes” by Chris Rice, which captures the sweetness of love so well.

How do you show love and affection to your loved ones? How has that changed over the years?