Diamonds, Vacuums, and Hindsight

The other day, my sisters and I were talking about wedding rings, and I was reminded of a story that occurred several years ago.

One day, my mother looked down at her ring and realized that the diamond was missing from it. She knew it hadn't been gone too long, but she searched around the house and couldn't find the diamond anywhere. So, she pulled the vacuum bag out of the vacuum and stored it in the closet until she had a chance to go through it and see if the diamond was in it.

However, a few years passed and the bag sat in the closet untouched. My mother got a new diamond for her ring, and the bag was temporarily forgotten.

Then, one day, I was looking for something to do and my mother remembered the vacuum bag. She asked me if I wanted to look through the dirt and stuff in the vacuum for the diamond. I quickly agreed to do it. It sounded like fun to me. (I'm kind of a strange person).

So, we spread out a sheet on the floor and I dumped out the bag. I spent the next couple of hours combing through lint, dirt, and other unmentionables. I kind of enjoy meticulous tasks that don't require much thought because I enjoy thinking about other things while I'm doing them. Imagine my delight however, when suddenly I saw something glinting in my hands.

I had actually found the tiny diamond amid all the garbage! I was pretty excited and raced upstairs to show my mother. We cleaned it off and after discussing the event with my father, they offered me a reward for my hard work.

I could either have $10 or a giant candy cane.

Guess which one I picked.

I picked the candy cane.

I was in high school. I should have known that I could have bought a couple candy canes with the ten bucks, but money has never really been that important to me. At the time, the candy sounded much better.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Now I probably would have taken the money (or definitely would have taken the money), but my shortsightedness at the time told me that I could have candy that instant.

How often do we give up something of worth in order to get something instantly?

Probably way too often.

The diamond isn't going to waste. It will be used eventually. I just think my decision was pretty hilarious.

Happy Mother's Day, by the way. I haven't mentioned too much about it, but it definitely was on our thoughts this weekend. That's one of the reasons we went to my parents' home to visit. I hope all of you mothers had a fantastic day and your kids were nice to you. Also, to those of you who find Mother's Day painful for one reason or another, I send you my love. Not everyone is a mother or has a mother to celebrate.

For those of you who feel this way, know that you have been mothered or motherly to someone, and you do make a difference in our lives. I consider many wonderful women to have been motherly to me, and they have made a huge impact in my life.

We love you!