The other night when I was watching the Olympics, they covered a side story about how Kerri Walsh lost her wedding ring during a match. Nay, not any match. It was during her first round match against Japan.
GULP!
Being a sand volleyball player myself (though nowhere near even close to the same caliber as Kerri Walsh and her super star partner, Misty May), I know all about how the sand likes to swallow things up.
Even though it was my diamond, not my entire ring, I also know how it feels to lose a ring given to you by your betrothed. Oh the dread she must have been feeling!
Yet, being the pro she is, she sucked it up, put it out of her mind, and went back to work. (And ended up winning the match, consequently.)
“Six Feet of Sunshine”
It may just have been a plain gold band to some. Not very extravagant. Nothing remarkable. But what made it Kerri Walsh’s most prized possession was the sentiment her husband (Casey Jennings, who’s also a pro volleyball player,) had inscribed inside the band: “Six Feet of Sunshine.” Apparently, that’s his term of endearment for her.
I thought that was so sweet. But what really got me was what she said in an interview I was watching. How she wanted it back because it meant the world to her that her husband had given it to her.
Always with Her
Because their schedules are nuts, Kerri and husband Casey know the woes of work keeping you away from your spouse. In the interview, Kerri alluded to the fact that the ring lets her always keep Casey close. Even when she’s at “work.”
The Search for Gold
Kerri’s already won an Olympic Gold Medal once, and she’s back in Beijing hoping to do it again, but this time there was a twist in that quest. In addition to going for another gold, she found herself waiting anxiously while 20 volunteers searched through the 17,000 tons of sand to find her gold wedding band.
It took them 20 minutes and a metal detector, but low and behold they found it!
Taped Up
In her next match, Kerri learned her lesson.
Nope, she didn’t leave her ring behind. Rather, Six Feet of Sunshine cleverly taped over her ring, affixing it solidly to her finger, to make sure it would stay on while she bumped, set, and spiked away another day at the office.
Very cool.
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