I was born in 1938, I was the youngest of five children and the only girl. My oldest brother had died during birth.
When I was born, my Dad went to town and bought me a tiny gold band for my finger. It had the word B-A-B-Y engraved on it. I guess he was quite proud to finally have a girl after having four boys.
According to my mother, I was a plump healthy little baby girl.
She tied a ribbon around the little ring, put it on my finger and tied the ribbon around my wrist, so I wouldn't loose it, or worse get it into my mouth and choke.
I don't remember her saying how long I wore the little gold band but one day I grew too big for it and she couldn't get it off my finger. She tried and tried to get it to slip off but to no avail. She called for my dad to come and see what he could do but he couldn't get it off either. He resorted to an old trick. File it off with a file. Evidently I put up a fight, probably crying to the top of my lungs. Since I was the apple of my dads' eye and his little baby girl, he just couldn't do it. He had started and got part of the way through but just couldn't finish the job. They decided to rub soap on it. Why didn't they think of that to begin with? It would have been much easier than putting me through the torture of trying to file it off my finger. I guess the soap worked, because the ring came off.
Mother kept the little gold band through the years. I was allowed to look at it occasionally but never was allowed to play with it or take it from it's place in the dresser drawer, in a little box.
My dad , J.L. Whitworth, died when I was nine years old. I missed him very much. It made the little ring all the more precious to me.
Mother kept the little ring until I was married and then she gave it to me. I put the little ring in a box in the dresser drawer and seemed to have forgotten that it was there. The little ring stayed hidden for years and years, through move after move, through the birth of my two boys, through the death of my husband due to cancer. It stayed hidden through many rough times in my life. I never really thought much about it. I was aware that I still had it but that was about all.
When my husband died, I thought my world had ended. My least thought, would have been a ring.
About four years later I met a wonderful man. He was a Baptist minister. We started dating and soon he asked me to be his wife. We were married in the little church he pastored and had a story book marriage for 13 years, until one night we went to bed and I awakened to the horrible realization that he was dead. He had died with a massive heart attack. My life came to a screeching halt. I didn't even want to live. I couldn't stop crying. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and pull the dirt over me and never come out.
My husband and I had very unusual matching wedding bands. They were engraved with a flower design. When I first saw them, I loved them, but I was afraid that he wouldn't wear his, because of the flower design. He did wear it with pride. We never took them off.
After the funeral, I requested that they remove his from his finger and give it to me. Over the next few days, I wore it on my right hand and at times when the grief was so great, I would remove it and put it to my lips and kiss it and feel his closeness.
With the help of God and my beautiful family, I was able to bear the grief. I then decided that I would buy a gold chain and wear it around my neck, fearing that I would loose it since it was too big for my finger. I did this, and many times when I would feel so alone, I would automatically reach for the ring and hold it to my lips. It seemed to help me through the bad times.
One night I was sitting in my chair, reminiscing as I often do anymore, and I remembered the little gold band that my Dad had given to me. I panicked. I jumped up and began to search for it. I searched and searched and was frantic, just about to give up hope when I found it in a jewelry box, not remembering that I had put it there. I got it out and placed it on the chain with my late husbands' wedding band. I felt so relieved. It seemed to give me a link to the past, through all of the bad times and remembering the good times in my life. I guess, in a sense, it was my security blanket. Sometimes, when I was troubled about something, I would rub the two rings and feel secure. I know that it was just in my mind, but anyway it seemed to help.
I had worn the rings almost three and a half years, never thinking once about the possibility of loosing them. On Sunday morning, I was taking a shower getting ready to go to church, when I heard metal falling into the tub. Being used to things falling apart since my husband died, I said out-loud, ''Well, What else is going to fall apart? I guess the shower is falling to pieces. Oh well, the water is still running so I'll go ahead and shower." When I started to dry off, I discovered that my chain had come unfastened and the rings had fallen into the bathtub. I started to panic. I looked in the tub, and there lay my husbands' wedding band. I grabbed it and put it to my lips saying, "Thank you God, Thank you God." The chain was still hanging around my neck, unfastened. Then I thought about the little gold band that my Daddy had given me. It was gone. I immediately got out of the tub and started crawling around on the floor, thinking that maybe it had fallen outside the tub. (No such luck.) I searched the tub again thinking that perhaps I had just missed it. (Again no luck.) I began to cry. (Such a loss to me.) My link to my memories gone. The ring my dad had given me, gone. I had kept it for 61 years and now it was gone forever.
I cried for awhile and then I said to myself. (I talk outloud to myself at times.) Crazy huh? Anyway I said to myself," Self just straighten up and get ready for church. You've been through a lot worse than this, You're a tough old girl." But I really wasn't. I went on to church feeling like I had lost an old friend.
Every time I went to the bathroom, I'd catch myself looking for the ring. Just by some small miracle, I would spy it lying somewhere. I thought about calling the plumber, but I figured that it was down the drain all the way to the alley. I scolded myself for not stopping the water when I first heard it fall. You can think of a dozen things that you should have done. I should have checked the clasp a few days before when I felt that it was loose and I just pressed it down instead of taking it off to examine it and clasp it back. I thought," Old girl, it's good enough for you."
I even prayed for a miracle, not really expecting one, as most Christians do.
Sunday, Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday passed. I felt so nervous, not really thinking that I was letting this get to me. I even snapped at a friend or two, something I wouldn't normally do.
A friend of mine had asked me if I would let the " Rainbow" vacuum people come to my house and demonstrate a vacuum cleaner. She was trying to win a set of cookware. I thought to myself, Oh no, but being the good friend that I am, and not having the word no in my vocabulary, I said ok.
On Friday morning I thought, "How did I get myself mixed up in this. Why can't I ever say no?" They were to be here at 10:00. They weren't here, I thought maybe they weren't coming. The phone rang. They would be a little late. They came. Valerie Minyard and Bo Hunter. Very nice people. I had never seen a "Rainbow". I was amazed. It made me feel that I had never cleaned house.
Bo was telling about the time that his cousin called him and told him that his new bride had lost her rings down the drain and that he had took his "Rainbow" over and sucked it out of the drain. I said, "I wish you had been here last Sunday when I lost my ring down the drain." I began to tell him my story, getting teary eyed as I told it. He said, "Have you run a lot of water down the drain since then?" I told him that I had showered every day. He said, "Let me see what I can do."
He took the "Rainbow" to the bathroom and put the hose over the drain. Ploop! We heard something hit the water container bottom. He smiled and said, "Will you buy a vacuum from me if I get your ring?" I said, "I won't promise that because I probably can't afford it but I certainly will hug your neck." He reached in and picked up the ring. I started crying, Valerie began to cry and I think Bo was a little misty eyed. I was so happy. I hugged Valerie, I hugged Bo. and would have hugged God if I could have gotten to him.
No I didn't buy a vacuum, but I certainly had a MIRACLE.It was the Miracle of the" Rainbow."
