She was the oldest daughter of 18 kids and it wasn’t until we finally got engaged that it struck me to wonder why she had so many siblings. In actuality I already knew, but I was too blind in my determination to cross the finish line, get married and start a family to even consider why her family had decided to have so many kids. I’ll make a note here and simply mention that we were both bible believing Christians however, her folks had adopted a firmer more rigid appraisal on the proliferation of babies than my parents had, and so after long discussions on the matter of our future reproduction it became clear to me that my fiance was very much the daughter, in ALL ways, of her parents. There would be no dictating or controlling the womb!

We sat together in a park in downtown Houston and I made my concerns known to her. Frankly I didn’t want as many kids as nature would allow, but rather, I wanted a small more controllable brood of about 3 to 5 kids. We deliberated and her parents got involved. There was no bending and we agreed to call it off. I left Texas and eventually moved away from Oklahoma (the city of proximity) and returned to the state of my birth. Two months after I arrived in New York my mother called to let me know that a package had arrived for me. when I opened it there was a solitary solitaire in a jewelry box; no note, just the ring.

I still have the ring and I have been happily married for two year now. Prior to getting engaged I let it slip that I was one step ahead of the game since I already had an engagement ring! Upon hearing that I planned to recycle my old engagement ring my girlfriend at the time threatend to send me packing; she didn’t even want to see it! “The very idea!”  she said, “makes me sick!”

J.A.ROE