What I Learned In A Give Away

So here’s one more story about Washington. Only this one is a about a big windy mountain, that Roger and I happened to be exploring via cog railway about five years ago. We stood in line and had our picture taken with the other tourists at the very top of Mount Washington.   

It was a beautiful fall day. I sat on a sun- warmed bolder and watched Roger go a few hundred feet down a trail. I also gazed at the other mountains and listened to the wind, high, lonely, and tame today. 

Then it was time to go down. We waited with the other tourists to take our places in the cog railway cars, while around us the hikers began their own downward trips. Another couple stood waiting, letting others fill up the railway cars just as Roger and I did. We didn’t want the golden afternoon to end. 

Finally, I spoke to them. They had delightful British accents and I wanted to hear more so I asked them how they liked the trip to America. 

They chatted a little about touring New York City and then the man put his arm around the woman and said, “I just asked this beautiful woman to marry me while we stood at the peak of this mountain.” 

We congratulated them, got in separate train cars, and began the ride down the mountain.But in my heart, a dialogue began. I give away some of my jewelry when I feel an inner prompting. Now I looked at my fingers, each with a ring and thought, “I have eight rings but the woman that just got engaged didn’t have one at all.”

But these were my favorite rings, each one of them.So my inner battle was fought on the way down the Mount Washington. 

When we got to the bottom, I found the couple as they got off the train.

“Did you give her a ring?” I asked.

He hadn’t.

“May I offer her one until you get home?” I said. 

He nodded and she looked over the eight offerings. I still remember she picked a ring that was black enamel with a white outline of the Washington Monument on it. It said, “A souvenir of Washington, DC.”

She said, “I will take this one because it has Washington on it.” 

I handed it to him and his hand shook as he began to place it on her finger. I walked away, gave them some privacy. Then I thought that someday their children will ask for the story of how he asked her to marry him and some American woman gave them a ring. That felt pretty good.