The Ring Hunt

About a year and a half after Bug and I started dating, we started talking about getting married. Not in the "lets run to city hall" sense, but in the "I really think this might last" way. I am unreasonably picky, so Bug asked me to come up with some examples of things that I would like.* 

Engagement rings were an entirely new concept to me. I never imagined myself getting married when I was little - pin in on whatever you'd like, be it parent issues, body image trouble, an inability to accept myself as gay - but I just didn't think it would happen. So I was starting from nothing. I was just faintly aware that I wanted something different. At first, I interpreted different as "dripping in diamonds." 

When I showed Bug, she went a little crazy in the eyes and stayed  silent. 

Bug gently suggested that we should go to a store and actually try some things on. I went into the store with a slightly more reasonable idea of what I wanted: 

This second ring was a little closer to reality. But in the store, after I tried it on, it became clear that not every ring suits everyone. I have thicker fingers - three smaller stones in a band made my fingers look even smaller and stockier. Plus, it lacked that little something extra I wanted. 

So we left the store, with a better idea of what we were looking for, but without an actual ring. 

* I might have made this up in my head - it's equally likely that I started looking at rings and foisting them on her when she least suspected it.