I paid for our engagement ring as well.

And she seemed to originally like it, but we never ended up married.

Regardless, it was money well spent, and she was the first great love of my life. I waited 32 years to "fall in love" in 1991, but we never reached the point of setting a date. (Perhaps because she was 11 years older, but never told me. I found out for myself much later, though it mattered not one whit to me.)

I'm grateful that she was honest enough to admit that she wanted "things" that a poor adjunct professor could not provide. (Driving by Mar-A-Lago each day on my way to work helped me understand that this "struggling guy" just wasn't enough for her.)

But buying our ring was still a wonderful experience that I will always treasure.

Thank you. I sincerely wish both your experience and mine had been more in line with the dreams we’d wished had come true.