I almost died today!

I was sitting in class enjoying an undergraduate lecture about literacy instruction for kids with disabilities for my assistantship assignment when I looked down and saw this:

I immediately feel ill and wonder is this a nightmare? Where in the world did my diamond go?!?!?!?!?!?!?! In my mind I retraced my day trying to remember the last time I knew it was there. Ok, noticed it when I was putting my ring on after applying lotion this morning, think I saw it later in a meeting this morning. Don't remember after that. Oh no. I have been so many places today (the library, walking around campus, my office, etc.) Then I mouth to a fellow doctoral student in the class, that my diamond is gone! Panic comes over her face too (later she admits to me that she had a nightmare about losing the diamond in her ring the night before.) Do I interrupt the class to ask everyone to look? When a change in pace occurred I got up searched the floor around me, spoke with the professor, and mentioned to some students that if they see a diamond they should let me know (I know that sounds silly, but they all became very concerned when they realized what I was looking for). Then I retraced my steps to the bathroom since I had been there just before class. On the way there I say a little prayer, the kind a child would say when they can't find a favorite toy. When I got to the bathroom, I looked in the sink I washed my hands in. The sink had no drain cover just an empty hole! Oh no! I can't believe it, it probably went down that drain. How will I ever get it back? Ok, now I am really panicking. We can't afford a replacement! How will I tell J? Do we have insurance on this thing? I can't even remember! I start feeling even more ill. I return to the classroom. Others are looking around, I am trying not to cry about all of this (I mean do the undergrad students I supervise really need to see me cry right now?) Then I search around the floor, back where I was sitting when I went to class. I start looking in my bags. I empty my purse and there it is! A sparkling princess cut diamond!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I even be that lucky, that blessed? I can't believe it! I found it! I make an announcement to the class. I go from ill, to happy in .23 seconds. My heart is still racing from all of this and I think....there must be a moral to all of this. What am I to learn from this experience? So here are some of the morals I came up with (in no particular order):

1- Prayer works! I already knew that, but this reaffirms it once again. One of the students even mentioned that she said a prayer for me as well.

2- Insure your jewlery, especially a ring you wear everyday.

3- My marriage has outlasted the workmanship of my ring. I am so lucky to be married to a wonderful husband - who didn't panic when I started sharing this story with him.

4- My diamond is less important than having a house for my kids, food on the table, my health, a wonderful husband, and so on. Perspective! I need that now and again.

5- Good thing I have a friend who is married to a jeweler. Maybe he will fix it for me!

So for now I am sporting the promise ring J gave me before we were engaged. I hope to have my ring back before too long.