I didn’t stress over picking out my wedding ring. It would just be a simple band. We went downtown to the ring store, picked out a sweet one and the nice man said, “Would you like it inscribed?” I hadn’t thought about that. “What do people usually do?” I asked. He said mostly wedding dates, sometimes a single word or simple phrase like forever or love always. I looked at my fiancé who had that “wedding dazed” look on his face. I love him dearly but he checks out over details like this. The ring needed to be sized, so I had time. I said I would think about it and let them know.
What do you inscribe inside a wedding ring? What could you inscribe? I didn’t have a clue. I put the issue aside as we prepared for a pre-wedding honeymoon to Cape Verde with our good friends and their 3-year-old daughter, Gracie, who was my flower girl. During a glorious 3 weeks, we toured two islands, swam, drank and ate fabulous food. Life is good in Cape Verde and it was nice to slow down.
After a few days in Praia, we rented a minivan for a road trip to Tarrafal, a charming beach town about a day’s drive further north. We stopped often at tiny roadside cafes and scenic overlooks. For such a young kid, Gracie was a great little traveler. On this road trip, however, Gracie was antsy. Her Mom said she didn’t sleep well the night before and encouraged Gracie to nap. Gracie climbed to the rear seat and lay down but she still fussed. Gracie’s Mom is Cape Verdean, and speaks the native language, a mix of Portuguese, Creole and other languages too. It’s beautiful. When people speak it fluently, it sounds like they’re singing.
In the rear seat, Gracie kept repeating a phrase as she squirmed under her blanket. I leaned forward and asked her Dad, driving at the time, “What is Gracie saying?” He explained that she’s saying “Mi cu bo.” Its literal translation is “me with you.” Gracie wants her mother to lie down with her. She’s saying over and over: Me with You.
I looked at my fiancé. Without saying a word, he just smiled and nodded in agreement. Right then and there we decided to inscribe that sweet phrase on our wedding bands. MI CU BO. Me with you. Out of the mouths of babes, the perfect ring inscription for us.
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