The Ring

A friend of mine recently traveled to San Francisco, where he visited a special jewelry store that does only custom work. My friend has been a devoted customer of this store for many years. In fact, he and his wife had their wedding rings designed and made there.
 
The original owner of the store retired last year and turned it over to his son, who also designs custom jewelry. He and my friend were discussing the value of such long-term relationships that span many years.

"It’s funny you mention that,” said the son, “because last week, the most unusual thing happened. A man came into the store and told me he wanted to return a ring he stole from my father 20 years ago. He said at the time he stole the ring, he had a drug and alcohol problem and he took the ring, intending to buy drugs with it. But now, he was in recovery and he needed to return the ring as a way to make amends.”
 
“I asked him, ‘How is it that you took the ring to buy drugs, and yet you still have it?’”
 
“The man replied, ‘After I stole the ring, I discovered it was much too beautiful to sell.’”
 
“So I asked him, ‘But after all this time, you have decided to return the ring?’”
 
“And the man replied, ‘Yes, now that I am in recovery, the ring is much too beautiful to keep.’”
 
My friend said when he heard this story, he found himself standing in the jewelry store, weeping, deeply moved.
 
He said the ring was much like his sobriety when he himself was down and out.
 
“When I was really hurting,” he said, “My sobriety was so precious, I would not have traded it for anything.”
 
“And then, later on when my life was healed, sobriety was too precious to keep to myself – I found that I had to give it away.”