My father and my mother were married for 55 years. In all the years that I have known my father, I have never known him to take off his wedding ring. Even when he worked for the Orleans Parish School Board as a TV/VCR repairman and was told that he could not wear his at work, he told them he could not take it off. It never left his finger. Even after the death of my mother 3 years ago, Dad still kept the ring on and it is buried with it on the finger that my mother put it on 58 years ago on June 12, 1960. *** When I got married on September 14, 1996, taking my inspiration from my father, I told my wife Judy that the only person that could the ring off my finger would be her. My wife died on November 22, 2009. I kept the ring on my finger until Holy Thursday 2014. The reason why I took the ring off is simple and profound. Holy Thursday is the day when the priest washes the feet of 12 people in imitation of Jesus washing the feet of the 12 Apostles. I was washing the feet of one parishioner. Once I had finished and was trying to stand up, I tripped over my alb, falling backwards. The only thing that I hit was my left hand ring finger, bending it to the side. As my finger began to swell, I removed my wedding ring. I think my finger was broken. I tried to put the ring back on; but it would not fit. Holy Thursday is also the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Origin of the Priesthood. By me taking off the ring, in a way, it was the way my wife was telling me from beyond the grave that I was no longer obligated to keep the ring on because I was now wed to the Church. Now you know the rest of the story.