20 years ago this month

May also brings up another special date in my life, with another special person.20 years ago this month, Laurie chose to move out to California and share my life. I honestly don't know who I'd be today without her in my life, but the person I am is one I'm quite proud of, and her sharing my life is a big part of what I've become.Last fall, I asked her to marry me again, and she said yes. As it turns out, trying to plan out the ceremony given our mutual schedules started driving us crazy, so rather than let that screw things up, we deferred it (intentions may be honorable, but logistics are a bitch).I still felt it important that I do something -- not just to celebrate that we've stayed together 20 years, but because I wanted to show her I want to spend the next 20 years, too.

So I sat down with my jeweler and started scheming.Last week, we went out to one of the restaurants we frequent, and as we were eating, I asked her if I could ask her opinion of something. And I pulled out the box, and asked her what she thought of this:As soon as she saw the box, she looked at me with that little look of hers and said, lovingly, "you bastard!"The ring has a double-band, soldered together, based on a design by one of the local designers who does limited edition pieces. Since Laurie and I both prefer colored gems to diamonds and are both to some degree gem geeks, I chose as the center stone a 1.14 carat tsavorite garnet in an emerald cut. We then surrounded that with four 1/4 carat diamonds (for the geeks, they're H color, VS2/SI1 clarity).I'm happy to say she likes it.I also had a new band made for myself.It is gold, with 3 5 point diamonds in it. It is my way of saying to the world "I am proud to be married to a very special person".Laurie has made the last 20 years so special. And I am looking forward to making the next 20 years special for her.