If you count how many times I've lost something, your fingers are never going to be enough. In the past, my things seemed to get lost or get nearly lost in the weirdest ways. There are times when I remembered where I placed them and I was able to retrieve them after some time. There are also times when I completely have forgotten about their locations and so they were totally gone.

Lately, I have lost something that I extremely valued: a ring. This was not an ordinary ring for it was crafted by a friend of my mother from our old church. The ring's materials were once forming an earring. Those days were the times when my mother dresses me with a simple piece of jewelry. Due to my extreme fondness in playing and running around wherever I go, I lost one of the pair of earrings in one of those days. Mom wanted me to still keep the earring and her friend helped her turn it into a simple and beautiful ring. Perfecto.

The ring also lost one stud. But to me, it still remains beautiful.

But of course, the bearer of the ring was not perfect. I still brought out my carelessness throughout high school when I played with the gate of our large hall at school. I swayed back and forth with both of my hands gripped tightly on its bars. Then when I got tired of it, I suddenly jumped off  but my hand got stuck to the bars because of the ring. I got my hand out but the ring was deformed. That was the time when the ring became as imperfect as its bearer.

For 12 years, I have worn it in my right finger and never taken it out except on important situations which seldom happen. For example, if I have to put away all the jewelry I am wearing in a place which prohibits it or I could not fix my hair or outfit properly because of it. But other than that, I wore it day and night every single day.

Well, I thought I was wearing it everyday until my parents' Silver Wedding Day. I noticed that my finger was empty but I did not panic because I thought it was just inside my jewelry box. But then, I also realized when I got home that it was missing after all. I clearly remembered that I removed it from my finger when I bought fancy rings for the wedding dance presentation at Genevieve Gozum last Tuesday. I was so engrossed trying the fancy rings out that I did not remember to put on my ring. Carelessness, again.

Yesterday after work, I directly travelled to SM North EDSA first. Like a child who has hidden something underneath a pillow and looking for it after a few hours in the same place where she last saw it, I was more than expecting. Deep down, I knew it was still there. Unbelievably, it was.

This ring was one of the few things that I have lost and found. I could not understand how or why it happened but I guess things that have something to do with family and nothing to do with selfish gains always stick around. 

This ring incident somehow reminded me of what my Mom always taught me, "Mawala na lahat sa'yo.. ang mga kaibigan mo, ang boyfriend mo, ang mga taong iniidolo mo.. Pero ang pamilya mo, sila lang 'yung laging nandiyan para sa'yo.. sila pa rin ang mga maaasahan mo. Di mawawala 'yan." 

And now and then, she is right.