be mine?

andrew english | his and hers fingerprint wedding bands
fingerprint detail hand-engraved on the inside

"I'm yours"

"Will you be mine?"

"I belong to you"

I have a friend that is vehemently against the idea of "belonging" to someone else or "ownership" of another person, if you will. She thinks it's demeaning and ridiculous that to love someone you have to 'own' them, or be willing to relinquish control of yourself to someone else. While I see where she's coming from, I cannot say I agree. For one, I'm kind of into that sorta thing. Also, isn't that a part of the (wonderfully terrifically romantic, imo) idea behind wedding rings?

As much as I know we shouldn't need a piece of jewelry to validate our relationships, there's just something very powerful about wedding bands. It speaks volumes about commitment and the willingness to announce to the world that you're taken and I don't know, it's just something I've always found terribly romantic. In an ideal world, it should be seen as an affirmative bond, a statement, a constant reminder of a promise. Not a shackle that traps you or a dirty secret you have to hide. Maybe it's social conditioning and/or my idealist ways but I know I want to find someone who will want to put a ring on it (ha) and openly wear his commitment on his sleeves. Or his ring finger.

I think I may be a sappy, backward, traditionalist that over-romanticizes - And I'm okay with that.