Don't Flush Your Marriage

I came home from work about a year after my wife Jean and I got married and found her in the bathroom crying. I was worried she was having second thoughts about our relationship, but when I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I flushed my wedding ring down the toilet.” Back then, she kept her jewelry in a basket behind the toilet, and she’d hit the flusher and the basket at the same time. It happened so fast, her wedding ring disappeared in a whirlpool before she could reach it. I spent part of that weekend taking the toilet apart. I never found her ring, and I didn’t find the second one she lost a few years later. I admit, I was frustrated when she told me she had lost that one.

But you know what? All in all, in the greater scheme of things, it’s okay.

The wedding ring is a symbol – beautiful and expensive – but a symbol. The most important thing is the relationship itself. As long as my wife and I don’t let that go down the toilet, we can survive losing a few other things. Rings. Cars. Houses. The stuff we own can enrich our lives, but not if they’re a bigger priority than our relationship. Stuff will come and go – whether we want it to or not – and none of it will bring us joy if it comes at the price of our marriage.

Of all things in life that can get flushed, don’t let your marriage be one of them. Invest in it. Protect it. Guard it with the same care you’d give a beautiful diamond ring.