MISSING: One brain, slightly used
Current mood:
sad
Yeah, I'm an idiot. I admit it. I did something stupid. Here goes...
We went to the LSU/Alabama game on Saturday. Got up there a little later than I wanted, but still found a parking spot right where we set up. The weather was PERFECT football weather...cold and windy. Some other tailgaters that we hung with a few years ago were there again after a year's absence, and we joined forces. I had the TV and they had the vennison sauce picante. Made with back straps, not the roasts. Damn good. It melted in your mouth. Oh, and boudin balls too. Can't forget those.
Afterwards, wen traffic died down enough, we headed off campus. Flat tire. I made it 10 feet and the "oh shit" alarm goes off in my head. No big deal...I've changed more tires in my life than I can count. I was just REALLY looking forward to getting on the road. Tired, mostly sober, and tired. This was an unacceptable delay.
While I'm fighting the damn "security" lugnut that is supposed to keep people from stealing your tires (when in reality, anyone with $7 can go to Auto Zone and buy the damn thing) I had to take off my wedding ring. I didn't want to damage it. I do that when I'm working with my hands. Always. I love that ring and I don't want to mess it up in any way. Whenever it comes off my finger, it always gets snapped on my keychain. HOWEVER...we were in Colette's car, and I didn't have my keys. No keys, no keychain to snap it onto. Because I was working fast trying to get out of the cold, I slipped it off, and set it on the hood. I'm a dumbass, I know.
I didn't realize until we were at the Spillway that I forgot to retrieve the ring from the hood of the car. By now it's past midnight, and I'm almost home. Too late to turn around. I tell Colette and curse for about 10 minutes. My brain is going apeshit at this point.
Saturday night (which was actually Sunday morning) I didin't sleep well. I kept re-playing the whole scene over again in my head. I kept telling myself how stupid I was for doing something like that. As soon as I saw daybreak, I got up and started trying to figure out if it was worth the tank of gas to go back up there and hunt for the needle in the haystack. It's Sunday, and my only day to get things done around the house. I was doubtfull that it would still be there, but it was gnawing at my gut. My wife finally made the decision for me.
We scoop the boy from my mother's house and head BACK to Baton Rouge for the almost certainly futile task of searching for my ring. Somewhere arround the Sorrento exit I realize that this will be my son's first trip (ex-utero, anyway) to LSU. This is not how it was supposed to be. His first trip to LSU was supposed to be in his little football player outfit with tailgating, and food, and music, and football, and watching the band walk down the hill, and sliding down the Indian Mounds on a piece of cardboard box, and seeing Mike the Tiger, and LSU beating a quality SEC opponent on Saturday night in Death Valley! That's how I had it planned in my head since the day I found out Colette was pregnant. Yeah, not so much. His first trip was on a Sunday afternoon when the campus was still recovering from the game last night. Instead of playing catch with the little stuffed football, he sat in my arms while I kicked up leaves. Instead of watching the early games on TV, he watched daddy and mommy walk up and down the street avoiding oncoming cars. At least he didn't know any better.
After 90 minutes of this, my already slim hopes have gone completely flat. I'd love to tell you that this is the part where I saw a glimmer in the sunlight way off in the distance and that was my ring. I'd also love to hear my wife say, "Hey, she's pretty. Let's have a threesome!". But neither of those things happened.
Here's the kicker. Colette keeps telling me to stop beating myself up over it. That it was an honest mistake. I don't make mistakes like that though. I take care of my stuff. I work hard for what I've got, and I make sure to protect it so it'll last forever. And even worse, I know for a fact that if the situation were reversed, I would be madder than a dog shitting tacks. I spent my Christmas bonus on her ring, and bought a diamond that I thought was the best I could afford. More than I could afford, actually. Not the biggest one out there, but certainly a high quality rock, nonetheless. Had she lost her ring, I would look down at her and tell her how dissappointed I was in her. I'd hold it against her and tell her how irresponsible she was.
But she won't do that to me. She won't get mad at me, and tell me how I made a bonehead mistake. Her exact words are "What will that solve?". Aside form the fact that she's right, it would make me feel a little bit better about the whole situation. Long story short (too late) my wife is a better person than I am, and I am damn lucky to have her.
So if anyone is on the LSU campus around the Geoscience complex, and you run across a white gold ring with Celtic knots inscribed on it, please pick it up, and get in touch with me. It's worth more than what was paid for it 2 years ago. More than anyone can imagine.
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