One of the awkward things people understandably don't talk about is what happens to wedding rings after a divorce. What do you do with it? Put it on craigslist? Turn it into fillings? In my case, there wasn't any need for that question, as it was mysteriously and portentously taken from me, several months before my marriage ended.
As I have done for years, I often visit the Ocean by climbing down the clay bluffs of Palos Verdes, and walk along the rocky tide pools there. It has long been a place of meditation and communion for me. Prior to that fateful day, there had been rain in Southern California. The place I was visiting was more like a sheer cliff than a bluff, and the clay had become quite slippery with the rain. But I was used to it, and never had any real problem when it was like that.
That day was different though. As I was climbing back up the cliff, I slipped. To catch myself, I threw my hands out to grab onto something. Unknown to me, my ring flew off my hand. It wasn't until later that day that I noticed the loss. I immediately closed my eyes, and saw myself slip again. That night, I inquired about it in my prayers, and then while asleep, dreamt of it sitting in the Ocean. The Ocean had taken my ring.
I didn't tell Nicole about it, but not long thereafter, she spotted its absence, and asked about it. I told her what had happened. She responded with a quiet sadness. Several months later, our marriage ended with devastating abruptness.
Fast forward about a year. Life was moving on, slowly but surely. I had become interested in my families history, especially understanding where they came from, and how that influenced them. It had been something of a passing interest, but this day was different. I was sitting with my Mom, and she was telling me about her side of her family. They came from Ireland. Some here, some there. But I came to full attention when she told me that some of them came from a place called Ring. Ring, a tiny village, on the ocean. I knew then that I had to go there. Somehow my fate had been tied into that place, across time and space. The Ocean had something to show me there. Today, I fulfilled that request, and inquired about my ring.
Here are some of the things I saw today. I'll let you take from them what you will.
- I awoke in the house of distant relatives, was fed, and given a lift to where I needed to be.
- As I was walking across the countryside, I came round a bend. Right nearby me appeared a beautiful brown horse and her foal. They were wandering among the ruined foundations and streets of an unfinished, abandoned housing tract, eating they grass that was growing up through the cracks.
- As I sat among my ancestors graves, jig after jig was being played in the little old church. The sun shined warmly down on me as puffy white clouds sailed high over head. The world was still and quiet, except for the music from the church, and the birds flying overhead.
- As I sat down to talk to the Ocean, a group of teenagers appeared on the beach nearby. They jumped in the cold water, and began swimming out. One stayed on shore, and I asked her where they were going. She said they were swimming out to a small island to go cliff jumping, and I knew I had to go out too. I took off my shirt and jeans, and followed them out. Into deep water, I placed my life in the hands of the Ocean.
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