Not sure if this qualifies as piecing or not...

[TrentC]

Lotus,

I would be interested in discussing Retrouvaille with you.

My alt in the other universe has a last name of Carlson.

[Deep]

Best of luck to you there Trent. Retro helped me so much and I pray you'll find it a great help too.

Darn, maybe I should really start looking into this alt business ...

[TrentC]

Things are progressing well, if slowly; she has been more interested in initiating plans and doing things around the house (a big 180 for her!)

We spent Christmas Eve jamming on a bunch of last-minute gifts; just about everything we gave out this year was handmade by one or the other of us. It was stressful earlier in the week, but by the 24th things were more relaxed.

On New Year's Eve (technically, the night before) we went out to dinner. I gave her a small box that contained the ring I put on her finger when I married her nine years ago, and a wedding band for me.

I lost my ring some time ago, and never got around to replacing it. Her ring was damaged (a diamond fell out of one of the side-channels) and she had been wearing my grandmother's wedding ring; I like the fact that she wore my grandmother's ring, but she had complained that I've never gotten around to fixing hers.

On our anniversary I started putting a small amount of money aside out of every paycheck, and I had enough to buy a replacement ring for myself and get hers fixed.

The only thing that marred the moment? Another diamond fell out of her ring! (It's not the same stone; I checked.) I have the stone and the ring and I am taking it back to the jeweler to get it fixed again.

I told her that I want things to be better this year; I want us to make plans and do things again, and to start considering our future. And that I plan to wear my ring as a symbol of my commitment, and that when she's ready I'd like her to put hers back on as well.

I'm going to get information about the local Retrouvaille session, and talk to a couple of MCs I was researching. I don't want to let 2010 get away from us the way 2009 did.

[Lotus]

Did she like the gesture of getting the ring fixed and replacing yours? I'm sure you can get the ring fixed again easily. At the Retro session I was at, the wife of one couple had thrown her rings out of a moving car when she found out about his affair. At the last Post session, she arrived wearing new rings and they announced that they were having a recommitment ceremony. We were all so happy for them. You sound like you are doing a great job of moving slowly and steadily forward. I hope you will get the chance to go to Retrouvaille.

[TrentC]

She did like the gesture. She was getting misty-eyed as I launched into the mini-speech I had prepared, and I thought she was going cry when I gave her the box.

I'm taking time off from work tomorrow to bring the ring back, so I can hopefully have it by this weekend. I tried to bring it in the next day, but they were closed for the long weekend.

[rockedworld]

What a wonderful gesture Trent!

[Butterfly1]

Congrats Trent, I'm so happy for you. Sounds like she was really receptive and touched by your gesture.

[TrentC]

Well see what happens when I actually give her a repaired ring.

I made our first MC appointment yesterday -- for the 13th.

[Butterfly1]

OOh - good luck and keep us posted. MC has been really turning things around for us.

[TrentC]

I got the ring fixed again this afternoon. I want to give it to her again; not as big of a deal as I did last time, but I don't want to just hand her the box.

Honestly, I don't remember if I finished the speech I had prepared; finding out the ring was still broken really rattled me.