Do you believe?

Do you believe in “signs”? You know, the type where you think of something and it happens? Or you ask for a “confirmation” and you get it? Are you the type to dismiss those or do you follow through? I know people who ask for something and then when it happens, justify it. People don’t want to believe.

Hubby doesn’t believe. Oh, he does believe that morons are out to get us, that Linux rules, that Winblows sucks, that there are 3 forms of legalized extortion i.e. government, banks and insurance companies. He believes in himself. He believes that any organisation of three people or more will have conflict. He doesn’t believe in God. Doesn’t believe in spirits and such nor does he believe in signs.

I, on the other hand, believe in some higher energy, believe in the spirit world and had too many signs not to believe in them. I’ve been on a spiritual path for quite some time, and realised that I don’t really believe in “organized” religion. (That will be for another post.) Throughout our years together we’ve shared some experiences that shook our beliefs system.

In 2004 we were in Greece, we visited Athens and the islands of Rhodos and Santorini. It was an amazing trip. While in Rhodos, I lost, on a beach, a ring that had a big sentimental value. My dad wore a diamond ring that had 8 small diamonds and 1 big one. After his death, I had 2 rings made, exactly the same for my mother and I with those diamonds (my mom’s has the big diamond on hers).

We made our way to Tsambika beach. It was the first beach I was seeing with sand – all the beaches we had seen so far in Greece were pebbles. We paid for our chairs and I played in the sand. At some point I removed my ring to clean the sand out of it, this is when cousin came by to inform me that we were going to the taverna right there on the beach. I packed my things and went to drop off everything in the car, which was parked on the beach right next to the shower. We had lunch after kept on touring the island. At around 8pm we were back at the condo are decided to go shower before dinner. Whenever I shower I take all my jewellery off. That is when I realised I didn’t have my ring. I frantically search my beach bag, my pockets I was so upset. Hubby went to the car, looked everywhere. NO ring to be found. I visualised my steps and saw myself cleaning it with a corner of my towel but I couldn’t see myself putting it back on. At that point I was crushed. I had lost my father’s ring…

Hubby decided that we would go back to the beach and look for it. So armed with his determination and my despair we made it back. The beach was empty. We went back to the chairs where we sat and started looking for a gold ring in sand. I walked around, so sad. Hubby dug a crater with his bare hands. The things he found doing that, yuck! Between used condoms and cigarette butts, and beer caps, but no ring. It got really dark when we decided to go back to the condo. I cried all the way. That night I prayed.

The next morning we got up really early and made our way back to the beach, armed with an old tennis racket to comb the beach. On the way there I asked my dad, if he wanted me to have his ring, to make it happen fast. I could see Hubby’s determination and honestly it was scarring me. I didn’t want to spend the day looking for something I wouldn’t find. We parked the car. The beach was deserted, save one stray dog. We got out, Hubby took the old racket and was heading back towards the hole he had dug the night before. I went around the car, re-counting my steps from the day before, made my way to the taverna. I remembered that I had shaken my beach towel before throwing it in the car, so I look around the shower. The pooch came my way and was sniffing me, as I went to scratch its ears I saw my ring in the sand. The sun was reflecting the diamonds. I walked to it, picked it up and as tears rolled down my face I told Hubby “I found it”. He couldn’t believe it, and I think he was a little disappointed because he was on a mission.

To this day I believe that my father wanted me to have my ring back and that he wanted to spend a night on the beach in Greece!

My ring is now engraved with "Tsambika, June 10, 2004", the day I got my ring back...

Image: Believe