Louisville Medicine Volume 64, Issue 9 | Page 8

REFLECTIONS

THE RING

Teresita Bacani-Oropilla , MD

Her name was Apolonia , a self-made woman with a high school degree . She was trained by a nurse friend to assist the physician and facilitate the flow of patients in a very busy family / pediatric clinic in the rural Philippines , circa 1960 . Being the oldest in her family , she helped her parents send her younger siblings to school . Already in her early thirties , she had no time to attend to amorous pursuits and realized she had turned into an old maid .

Undaunted , she befriended a younger man who was transporting passengers to their destinations on a rented tricycle . He also had put himself through high school , was industrious , and showed possibilities for success . Besides , he was good looking . It was not long after that when they purchased a ring .
It must have cost a lot for them to invest in this ring . It was not one of those that cast prisms of color when held against the light . It had just enough gold in it to appear yellowish , dotted with three small dark-colored smidgens of diamonds that must have been left over after the main jewel had been cut . Pitiful it may have looked to the snobbish or richer onlookers , but for them it was the hard-earned symbol of their commitment to each other , and they were wed .
In our own rich and bountiful USA , February is a month to celebrate love , culminating on the 14th designated as St . Valentine ’ s Day . ( The latter , legend says , was reputed to have given dowries to
three ladies so they could be married properly .) Cards , flowers , lavish bouquets , boxes of candies and gifts avowing love are exchanged . Dances and parties are arranged for budding friendships and known lovers to enjoy . Great excitement is engendered by tele-series or popular athletes at stadiums , who kneel before a beloved and offer an engagement ring .
The ring , being a circle , is supposed to promise unending love , beginning all over when it is supposed to end . Since it is visible , it also advertises to all , one ’ s intent to make this a permanent relationship .
Thus indeed when this intent is finally sealed , life goes on , sustained by this promised love , despite the bumps and falls along the way . Many widows and widowers , even after the demise of a loved one , wear the rings of their departed spouses in a necklace , a reminder of a beloved figure who was once a linchpin of their past .
Apolonia still wears her ring as she goes about her chores on the farm where she and her husband raised their two sons . A simple cheap ring , now faded and worn thin , it glows with fidelity , sacrifice and love .
Can love really endure ? Surely , if tended well . Happy Valentine ’ s Day !
Dr . Oropilla is a retired psychiatrist .
6 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE