About 12 years ago, shortly after the first of our friends to have a child had said child, I noticed a beautiful new ring on the new mom’s right hand. I had never heard of the concept of “push present” before but apparently, this absolutely gorgeous ring had been presented to the new mom from the new dad as a, well, maybe a thank you, maybe a reward, for having done the brunt of the work in bringing the new child into the world.

I didn’t give it a thought until about two and half years after my first child was born. It was totally unplanned. I wandered into a jewelry store just browsing for nothing in particular and came across a ring that I just could not take my eyes off of. It was just so beautiful. Of course, this was my push present, not a gift as much as a daily reminder of my love for my first born. Indeed it felt like the perfect companion to the engagement ring/wedding band gracing the ring finger of my opposite hand.

My son was born about a year later and in the chaos of two young kids, trauma fellowship, and a cross-country move the thought of ring to commemorate his entry into the world never even occurred to me or my husband. He is in fewer pictures. He never got a year 1 calendar. His arrival into my life was never commemorated with a piece of jewelry.

Meanwhile, some five years after he was born, I decided that I finally needed to get a handle on the “baby weight” I had been lugging around for too long. One day my first born ring went flying across the room as I was making the bed. It was too big. I had lost that much weight. Being a practical person I just moved it over a finger.

I felt a sudden, immediate ache to dress the now naked finger with the token of my love for my second born. Thus began the quest to find a ring that spoke to me as firmly and decisively as the first ring had when I first laid eyes on it. After years of occasional browsing I finally found it. Totally unexpectedly I stumbled across a Bony Levy trunk show in the Chicago Nordstrom during a recent race weekend.

After trying on multiple styles I decided on the design. But it wasn’t quite right. There were diamond set in white gold (shown), diamonds set in yellow gold, rubies set in yellow gold, and sapphires set in white gold. But I always wear yellow gold and I wanted a blue stone since my son’s name translates to blue. So, after consultation with the designer himself we ordered a custom ring for me. He assured me that “cooler” sapphires with “warmer” yellow gold would still work though he does not make them that way routinely. I trusted him.

Who wouldn’t trust a face like that?

About 4 weeks later it arrived. I was everything that I hoped for. I was immediately reminded about my love for my second born. My right hand now feels as complete as my
left hand has since the day I married. My family fully represented.