The Wedding Ring Box from My Grandfather

When I proposed to my girlfriend this year, I used the same small wooden ring box my grandfather carved by hand in 1956 for my grandmother's engagement ring.

My grandmother gave it to me last Christmas. "It's held two good love stories," she said, meaning hers and my parents'. "Time for a third."

The box is made of walnut. It's a little scratched. The hinge squeaks. When I opened it on one knee by the lake where we had our first date, my girlfriend gasped, and then saw the box and gasped again.

She said yes. Then she asked about the box, and I told her its story. She cried. Then my grandmother, who I'd told about the plan, called to ask how it went. When I put her on speaker, she said, "Welcome to the box, sweetheart." My fiancée cried again.