A thirty-dollar wedding ring

The visa is coming to an end. On January 28, 1984, my visa to stay in the U.S. expires. I graduated from school. I couldn't get a job. I have to go back to Korea as a spinster. I feel sorry for my parents who even sent me to study abroad.

I was doing laundry in the laundry Room and reading an art magazine. A middle-aged man, who seemed to be Korean, looked at me. Sure enough, "Are you Korean?" and then looking into the book I was reading, "Are you studying art?"

My visa problem is solved by this connection! Turns out he was an older alumnus at the university where I graduated. "Do you have a boyfriend? I have a man who hasn't been married. How about it?" He asked me to come to his house on the weekend. I tried to wear that complemented my haggard appearance, but there is nothing right to wear.

I entered senior's apartment with shyness. "Hey! How did you get here?” A man who seemed to have seen from somewhere shouted. I looked at him carefully. He was my classmate who emigrated when he was in the senior of university. "Have you married yet?" "So you?" I looked at him. He looks relaxed, saying, "It's not too late for me." When I was in college, I didn't even look at him because I didn't want to get involved with him.

He's relaxed because he has a green card and he's a man. I have to go back to Seoul when my visa is over. Rather, I thought I could be filial if I lived far away from my parents. "Can you make me a green card," I asked him bravely, "You have to spend a lot of money to get a green card these days." "How much does it cost?" “I don't know.” He was very excited.

I went to a jeweler's shop in Chinatown, where I bought my ring for $30, and his ring for $50. The day before my visa is over, I put him in a cab and ran to City Hall with three or four of my friends. The officiating said for 1 minute and 45 seconds and marriage ceremony ended without even having to take a picture of it. I chatted with my friends at a restaurant in Chinatown, having lunch with Chinese liquor. At the entrance to the subway, he asked me "Is that enough?" I said, "Thanks." He went to his studio and I took the subway to go my apartment.

His father live in L.A. sent me a plane ticket saying he wanted to meet me. He liked me very much. He told me that he is going to give us a wedding and buy me a diamond ring, too. "I don't need a diamond ring. Can you give it to me with money instead of a ring?" I said. He looked surprised and said, "What's wrong with you?" "I'd like to gain a living base with that money.”

In my 31st year of marriage, I still don't have a diamond ring. My husband is annoyed me that he will buy me a ring with a large diamond once a year. I love this thirty-dollar ring.

As we get older, my husband fingers get thicker and ring won't come off. Sometimes, I beg to cut a thin ring buried in his fingers. “Isn’t it hurt your finger?" "What are you talking about? It's okay. This is a precious ring." The husband looks into the ring with a gentle expression.