Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 115763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!”
I join in the applause that breaks out, holding my water bottle against my chest so I don’t lose it and create even more of a distraction than I already have.
It’s a special moment like the dozens of others I’ve been a part of but also not a part of. Because Lance isn’t proposing to me. I’m not his soulmate. I’m not anyone’s that. I’m here as the artist who designed the custom engagement ring he’s slipped onto Elaina’s finger. Usually, I ship out the rings I design and wait hopefully for an email back with the proposal story and a picture of the ring on the betrothed’s finger. This time, I was lucky enough to live locally, and Lance invited me to play voyeur because Elaina is a fan of my work.
Carefully, so I don’t disturb the newly engaged couple more than I have, I rise to my feet with the aid of an older gentleman who offers me a grip on his walking stick. Yeah, someone who needs assistance with the carefully maintained and graded path up the hill is helping me—a young, strong, healthy athlete who performs at every local NHL hockey game—to her feet.
Why is my life like this?
I don’t know. I’ve learned not to question it anymore, because beyond death and taxes being sure things, with me, it’s nearly guaranteed that if there’s a way to fall, I will. A way to make a fool of myself, it’ll happen. And of course, a way to look like a complete weirdo, that’ll be me somehow accidentally volunteering as tribute.
As I tell the older gentleman thank you, Elaina, the soon-to-be bride, starts squealing excitedly. “Oh. Em. Gee!” She actually says the letters as she stares at her finger. “Is this a . . . ?” She lifts wide eyes to Lance, looking so happy I can virtually feel the bliss coming off her like rays of sunshine.
Lance nods. “It is. And even better . . .” He guides his newly bejeweled fiancée my way. “This is Penny Lee.”
Eyes locked on me, she whispers out of the side of her mouth toward Lance, “Like The Penny? The Ring Girl?”
Lance told me that Elaina is a fan, but I’m still surprised when, after a short second as realization dawns, she throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeats, the exclamation running together as one long word.
When she releases me, I laughingly hold my hand out. “I’m Penny Lee, of PLDesigns. Congratulations.”
Elaina doesn’t so much shake my hand as she wildly jerks it up and down. “I love your work so much. It’s so beautiful.” She pulls her hand back, her eyes dropping to her new custom ring, designed and made by moi. “It’s so beautiful,” she repeats.
This is why I love what I do. The look on Elaina’s face right now.
Most people think of stores at the mall when they go shopping for jewelry, but there are so many more possibilities. Years ago, I began scouring thrift stores, estate sales, and pawnshops to feed my own desire for pretty, shiny things and quickly realized what I craved wasn’t out there. I became determined to create the things I saw in my head, and taught myself how to not only design jewelry but physically make it. What started with copper graduated to silver, and eventually gold, before really taking off. What started out as a hobby making pieces for myself quickly became a passion, and now I have a social media following that snaps up my redesigned heritage pieces, asks for custom designs, and comments on my work.
While I do all sorts of jewelry designs, the majority of my commission work is engagement rings, and they’re what bring me the most joy. They’re more than a promise to marry. They’re an expression of love. They don’t have to be expensive or flashy—unless that’s what the couple wants. They just need to be from the heart, and that’s what I do. Make people’s hearts visible as works of art they can wear every day.
“I’m glad you love it. It’s my new favorite piece too,” I confide, acting like it’s a secret confession, when the truth is, each piece is my favorite until I create another, and then that one becomes my favorite. “And when you’re ready, we can design the wedding band for it together.”
Hearts virtually pop out of Elaina’s eyes. And then she turns to Lance, looking at him like he hung not only the sun but the moon, stars, and probably the planets as well. “Did you hear that, babe? We get to design the wedding band with Penny too.”
He nods, pushing a lock of hair behind Elaina’s ear in an intimate move that only highlights how excruciatingly deep their love is. “We’ll make sure it’s perfect,” he vows.