I didn’t notice it’s disappearance until about two hours later while at Safeway. I noticed it in line while my wife was running out to the car to get our reusable grocery bags. When she got back, I raced out myself to get my wallet and check that, our camera bag and my pack … no ring. On the way out, she knew something was off right away. She asked me what was wrong before we were even halfway back to the car. I just held up my hand and said, “I lost my ring at the beach.” I was miserable. Inconsolable. To my wife’s credit, she took the approach of “We’ll get you a new one, and it too will be so special.”

I had a very sad sleep that night. We woke up today and started looking for a suitable replacement. My father is a minister, and he’s the one who married us. We’re going to get him to bless the new ring and to repeat the ring-exchange portion of the ceremony … once the new ring has arrived.

My ring — a simple white-gold 6mm band — was only $300. Having never worn jewelry before, I wanted something classic and simple. So, being only $300, money isn’t the issue for me. That ring quickly became my most prized material possession. I’ll always miss that ring, but my wife said we’ll make new memories with the new ring, and it will in time mean just as much if not more.

The thing I’ll miss most about that ring … in the airport on the way to our honeymoon (about four hours after we exchanged our vows), our luggage scratched my ring. At the time, I was like “Aw, crap … scratched my ring already.” But in time, I looked at that scratch with great fondness. Sure, my new ring will inevitably get a scratch on it while I’m creating some memory. But it will never be the scratch that happened on the airport on the way to our honeymoon on our wedding day.

That’s what I’ll miss most about that ring.

But I still have my ever-so-loving wife and a baby girl on the way. My family, I’ll never lose … and that means the most.