Tiffany rings and romantic things

Last year I met a young man at a Tiffany store. He was buying a diamond ring for his girlfriend and hoping to propose to her. We had struck up a friendly conversation and when the sales lady left I told him , " For that kind of money you could easily buy a bigger diamond at the store down Orchard Rd." He gave me a tired grin and said, " Aunty I know. But the rings down the road dont come in a blue Tiffany box and silver ribbon which is what she wants."

Then a few weeks ago my friend tells me about her daughter's fantasy dream wedding and dream engagement ring..Another friend just flew to Perth to have their wedding pictures taken and another had his wedding in Bali with 100 so friends and family..

I want to tell them that long after the dress is put away and the gold round the diamond looks buffed the loans start to pile up and the baby bills start to grow. There are less romantic moments and gift giving becomes a question of simply choosing to go out for a meal.There will be moments you wondered why you ever married your partner and moments you wish you'd remained single. Nothing is private and soon the burps you thought were cute and funny become embarassingly loud and frequent . Times when you feel like shouting but you know the moment will pass. When you give up a dream so that your partner can live his or when he remains still so you can enjoy yours. The wedding ceremony loses its lustre and romance is the stuff of movies.

But...That's when "I love you "is seldom said but deeply felt. When a hand gesture is all you need to know that you're a team. New Year comes around and you want to fall asleep at 10pm cos you know tomorrow is just another day and you dont have to wait up together at some insane party to greet the morn. When the slight crease of his brow tells you the conversation will go no where and if you wait he'll come around. No need to shout, no need to stand on what's fair or not fair. You remember the small things that make you laugh and there is less and less effort to remember what made you cry. In your sleep you know if your partner is awake and when you awake it's ok if he's still asleep. When the day ends you forget the argument you had. This is the marriage , wedding rings and all.. it lasts for more than one glorious romantic day .If you're fortunate, you get to spend the rest of your life with just that one partner and no, it never gets boring. ... . And if you're patient ... he can finally afford a ring and by then you'd have learnt that it means so much more..