The steady voice a young man broke Lisa’s thoughts. “Excuse me, ma’am, are you Lisa Carpenter?” Lisa was startled to hear someone actually call her by name after being shunned by everyone else in the town. She looked up into the kind eyes of a young man. He held a small box in his hand and seemed nervous. Although she knew she had never seen this man before, Lisa felt that she already knew him. After some thought, Lisa acknowledged that she was, indeed, the girl he was seeking. “At long last, I’ve found her!” the man exclaimed. After seeing her bewildered look, the young man explained, “My name is Michael Harris, and I believe this belongs to you.”
Michael held out his hand, and offered the small box to Lisa, who solemnly took and opened it. Inside the box lay a beautiful gold ring, perfectly matching the one that she had used and tarnished. Suddenly, Lisa figured out why she recognized this young man. Her father’s words to her, “You’ll know who to give it to when the time is right” began to flood her mind. Her heart started pounding. Lisa stood up quickly and began to tremble. “Sir, here is my ring,” she told him, her eyes downcast. “You can have it if you want, but it is no longer worth anything, for I have used it before the time was right.” Michael glanced down at the ring Lisa held in her hand, and slowly took it from her. With tears in his eyes, the young man looked at her lovingly.
Lisa felt as though his gaze burned right through her. She stood, waiting for his harsh and cutting response. But it never came. Instead, Michael whispered, “You may have used this ring before the time was right, but one thing remains unchanged.” And here he held the ring up before her eyes in a way so she might look at what was engraved inside the gold band. “The outside may be used and tarnished, but my name is still engraved inside. You may have tarnished your ring, but I still have mine to give.” Michael gently slipped his ring onto Lisa’s finger. With a look that was full of pain, yet full of love, he requested she come back home with him. Silently Lisa agreed, though her heart was in turmoil. How would her father respond when she stepped through the door of his home, the home which she had so eagerly abandoned five years ago to chase after her own selfish dreams.
The trip back to the Carpenter’s home was a long, miserable one for Lisa. She had mixed emotions about seeing her father again. Would he be angry with her? He certainly had a right to be, and Lisa knew that all too well. After several days of traveling, the coach that Michael and Lisa were traveling in finally came to a halt at 142 Westfield Road. Lisa’s pulse raced as her husband led her from the carriage and up to the front door of Lisa’s childhood home. Memories came flooding back as she stood outside her father’s door, now a stranger to her own family. Everything seemed the same as when Lisa had left ten years ago, there was only one thing different. A small headstone stood under a giant old oak tree that Lisa remembered climbing as a child. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that this was her mother’s grave. Mrs. Carpenter would never see her daughter return home.
After several knocks and a few minutes of suspenseful waiting, the front door opened and there stood Lisa’s father. He had more wrinkles and gray hairs than when Lisa had last seem him, but he was the same lovable man she had known before. His eyesight obviously failing, Mr. Carpenter squinted to see who stood at his door. When he recognized his rebellious daughter standing there, the old man openly wept. Embracing his daughter, he nearly dragged her inside and sat her down in the parlor. Unable to contain her own emotions, with tears streaming down her cheeks, Lisa quietly apologized to her father, humbly asking his forgiveness. Acknowledging the fact that she was not worthy to receive her father’s forgiveness, and fully expecting him to reject her as his daughter, she was surprised when he responded: “Welcome home, daughter. I know that you’ve made mistakes and disobeyed me, but I want you to know that no matter what you’ve done, I will always welcome you back home.”
Michael and Lisa spent the rest of their lives together, caring for and nurturing the large family they were blessed to have. After a long life of both joy and sorrow, husband and wife were laid to rest side by side in the cemetery out behind the old church that still stands on Westfield Road. Their house, which was small yet cozy, became a tourist attraction for those passing through the little town of Devonshire. People came from all over to see what became of Lisa Carpenter with the golden ring. Even today, visitors can see, sitting above the fireplace in the old cottage, the two rings melded into one, with an inscription over the top: “These two rings symbolize the love between Michael and Lisa Harrison. Shortly after their wedding, Lisa’s father had these rings melded into one and placed above the fireplace. For the Harrisons it was forever a symbol and reminder of Lisa’s disobedience and the pain she had brought to her husband.”
In one letter to her daughter shortly after she had received her own ring, Mrs. Harrison wrote: “This gift is one of great value. It has potential to bring incredible joy, but also to bring incredible sorrow on those who misuse it. Don’t even allow yourself a peek at it, lest its beauty entice you and enslave you into using it before the time is right. All it takes is one glance to begin the process of dragging you down deep to a place you never meant to go.”
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