A little background information will be helpful in understanding the meaning behind the ring Onyi proposed to me with…

Early on in our relationship Onyi shared with me something his father had embedded in him and his siblings from childhood. His father would tell them that life is like a tripod supported by three legs; faith, family and work. If one of these things was out of balance the tripod could not stand. I found this to be marvelous wisdom imparted on them. For Onyi and me, we both have seen this to be very true in our relationship. If one of us is dedicating an overwhelming amount of time to work, our relationships suffer. If one of us is not spending time with the Lord the way we ought to be, again, we see how much it impacts everything around us. The tripod analogy rings true and will be passed down to our children. Faith. Family. Work.

A while back I made a big fuss over something that I really shouldn’t have. Eventually I came to my senses and realized I owed Onyi an apology for it. Like he said in his engagement story, I too, think I can be a bit of a romantic and sometimes one must get creative with apologies! Anyway, a long, long time ago, I had read Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved” poems, which were found in his desk after his passing. There were three of them and they were all written so beautifully. For some reason those poems popped into my head that day, and instead of waiting for the day to be done, I looked up the letters and emailed the one I love the most to Onyi…

“…I can live only wholly with you or not at all…be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose…love me today, yesterday…never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved. Ever thine, ever mine, ever ours.”

It was everything my heart felt. Lucky for me, Onyi responded that he loved that and was especially touched be the ending. Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours.

Ok, sorry for the abundance of background info.

When Onyi proposed, he proposed with the wedding band instead of the traditional engagement ring. He wanted us to choose it together. I loved that he put the emphasis on the wedding band – the ring we’ll exchange vows with. When he grabbed the box to propose, I never looked down. I knew if I did there was a good chance I wouldn’t hear what he said. After I said ‘yes’, I hugged him tightly and within a few seconds he pulled me back and exclaimed, “What kind of woman are you?! You didn’t even look at the ring!” He proceeded to tell me why he had purchased the ring he did. It had three rows of pave (my favorite) diamonds on it; each row to symbolize our tripod of faith, family and work. Additionally he had ‘ever thine, ever mine, ever ours’ engraved inside it. I couldn’t be more touched by all of the thought he put behind the ring. It is the perfect representation of our commitment to each other and what is important in life.