wedding rings

Closing my parents' safe deposit box at a local bank today, I sorted out their stuffs and found these two rings. Their names and the date they got married are marked at the inside of the rings.

As I held and studied them in my hands, I came to the appreciation of the covenant that my parents made and managed to keep. It wasn't easy. At various stages of their marriage life, there were different challenges. I was there most of the time so I know a little bit.

Towards the last decade of his life, dad expressed his wish to go back to China to live and "do something." Well, he had the heart. He also did something already through some short trips. But he wanted to be there long term. He said he didn't care for the monthly monetary benefit received from the U.S. government. But then, mom's not keen on going to China nor the idea of dad going alone. (Both my sister and) I did not want to take care of mom. Thus, dad didn't gain any support from us to fulfill his dream. After his passing, I thought about it and wondered if it would be his regret.

Looking at these rings, I thought perhaps dad's getting a bigger crown for having stayed with mom, honoring their marriage vow than if he had gone off to China and even accomplished something huge for the local churches there.