Diamonds and gold

Several years ago, when Heather's grandmother Lillian died, Ted was devastated. They had been married for over sixty years. In his grief, Ted presented Heather with a diamond ring that he had given Lillian as an anniversary present.

As he passed the ring to Heather, his only grandchild, he said, "Before I die, I want to see you wear this when you get married."

Heather was very touched, but anxious. She knew that she couldn't grant Ted his wish because she would never marry a man, and therefore, she thought, never marry. When she went to Australia, she left the ring with her mother for safekeeping.

On Christmas Day, I spent the morning with Heather and her parents. We spent a long time opening the wonderful array of gifts that we'd received. Finally, I opened Heather's Christmas card to me, which had a small gift box attached. Inside was Lillian's diamond ring. Heather's mother had asked Heather if she wanted to give me the ring, and had organised resizing the ring when Heather said yes.

When Ted arrived later that afternoon for Christmas dinner, we showed him the ring on my finger. By this point, the strokes he'd suffered were affecting his speech, and he was a little difficult to understand. I leaned in close as he spoke to me.

"You have to keep it on now forever," he said. "You can't take it off."

"Don't worry," I said. "I plan to keep it on forever."