Summary

A high school baseball player's girlfriend loses his father's cherished ring after mistakenly claiming they were engaged, leading to a mix of guilt, defensiveness, and a broken "engagement."

Abstract

In a personal narrative, the author recounts a series of events where his close relationship with his father is tested when his girlfriend, Donna, loses a family ring at a baseball game. The ring, initially found by the author and given to him by his father, had significant sentimental value as it was a gift from his father's sister. The author, proudly wearing the ring, becomes the first baseman on his high school baseball team and starts his first serious relationship with Donna. When the baseball coach prohibits wearing rings during games, Donna offers to hold onto the ring for safekeeping. During the first game, the author's father witnesses Donna showing the ring to her friends, claiming it as an engagement ring, which then slips from her grasp and is lost. The incident causes a rift, with the author feeling both guilty and defensive, and Donna unilaterally ending their relationship.

Opinions

The author held his father in high regard, viewing him as a role model.
The ring held sentimental value for the author and his father, despite the father not being one for jewelry.
The author was excited about the ring's resemblance to his own initials and felt it was a fitting accessory for a high school senior.
The author felt a sense of pride in his achievements, both in baseball and in his relationship with Donna, initially seeing these events as positive signs in his life.
The author's father was disappointed and angry about the loss of the ring, which was a family heirloom.
Donna seemed to have a different recollection of the events, suggesting that the author had forgotten to give her the ring for safekeeping, which led to the loss and the end of their relationship.

My Dad Saw My Girlfriend Lose His Ring

It happened at a high school baseball game, I was playing 1st base.

My father and I were very close when I was growing up. He was a principled man who worked hard and played fair. I loved him, respected him, and looked up to him as a role model.

I was not introspective enough at the time to realize it. I felt it, however, below the level of my awareness.

One morning, I found a ring under the couch in the living room while horsing around with the cat. The ring (and the cat to a lesser degree) were wedged between the wall and one of the couch’s legs escaping discovery by anyone who may have been cleaning back there.

The ring appeared old and had the initials RSB written in script on a golden oval that was the head of the ring. The script was so undecipherable, it could have passed for BDB, my initials.

When I told my father I had found his ring (Robert Sidney Barrabee) he was pleasantly surprised but not overly so. He wasn’t one much for jewelry of any kind. He mentioned the ring had been given to him by his sister.

When I pointed out the similarity in the script initials, my father asked me if I’d be interested in wearing it. I thought it was really cool, classy, and masculine just the right fashion accessory for a senior guy in high school.

I wore it until the point I got used to it. I didn’t even know it was on, it became a part of me, so to speak.

In the spring of that year, I experienced 2 rather significant life-changing events: I made the high school baseball team and I met Donna.

Two 1st’s

I became the 1st baseman (left-handed advantage).

My 1st love, Donna.

These 2 major developments would combine to make my life complicated, although I didn’t know it yet.

I actually thought they were signs that all’s well in my world.

My story:

The baseball coach announced early in the season; no rings should be worn by the players when practicing or playing. Something about the ball hitting a ring finger and causing more damage than if it hit a ringless one.

Mentioning this to Donna, she volunteered to hold my dad’s ring when I was practicing or playing. She was planning to watch some of my games anyway.

Our 1st game was with a local high school at our home field.

My father was there as a spectator as he was, faithfully, to all my sporting events.

Donna was there with a group of friends

Little did I know where this combination of events would lead when I glanced up to wave to my dad, then Donna, and her friends. Neither had met each other. I’d bragged about my father to Donna but I felt it might be better to give our relationship a little more time to tell my parents about Donna, my 1st real girlfriend.

Around the 3rd inning, there seemed to be negative energy flowing among the spectators. Couldn’t put my finger on it but I felt it.

It took dinner with my family that evening to piece things together:

According to my father:

This attractive high school girl who he’d neither seen nor met before that moment was boasting to her friends that Brian Barrabee and she were engaged, I had given her a ring to seal the deal.

His ring! Godammit!

While passing her ersatz “engagement ring” to her friends, it dropped through the bleachers and disappeared. Godammit!

His disappointment and anger were evident.

A combination of emotions that made me feel guilty and defensive.

According to Donna (in school the next day):

I had neglected to entrust her with the ring during the game the day before.

Don’t I remember?” she asked — unilaterally breaking our “engagement.”