In my first ever article for Odyssey, I wrote a line about wearing "Mom's class ring," which is, above all else, my most prized possession. It's a gold signet ring from Phillips Andover Academy, engraved not only with my mother's initials and graduating year, but also with the Phillips Andover seal. It fits snugly on my right forefinger, and I never take it off, for fear that I'll lose it.

Well, almost never.

Just for reference, here's the ring:

So a few weeks ago, I went to my friend's pool party to reconnect with some friends from school, whom I hadn't seen since the summer began. We were all having a great time; but then, one thing led to another, and girls were getting thrown into the pool.

So let's play a game – it's kind of like those "choose-your-own-ending" mystery books. See if you can guess what happened next.

A. I got thrown into the pool, only to climb out of it completely intact, albeit a soggy, dripping mess.

B. I got thrown into the pool, kept swimming and had a glorious afternoon of sunbathing and chattering with friends about glamorous summer plans.

C. I got thrown into the pool, got out, realized I suddenly couldn't find my mother's irreplaceable class ring, broke down in tears, stayed in the pool for six hours trying to find it and spent the rest of the weekend pretending my eyes were actually a pair of high-tech ring-spotting goggles that could see underwater, in the dark, despite any sort of weather conditions.

If you guessed C, then you must be a genius or something because you nailed it.

So I lost my mother's class ring. My most prized possession (and formerly her most prized possession). It's not exactly something you can just go and pick up at the jewelry store. It was gone, forever and I was crushed. Upon leaving my friend's house on Monday, I asked him to keep an eye out for my ring and began my five-hour journey home.

I've always found that the car is a good place to think. If you're driving, like I was that Monday morning, then you can't use your phone,and your eyes can focus on nothing but the road ahead of you. There are few distractions in your immediate environment, and it doesn't do much harm to reflect on things every now and again. So I thought about my ring, and, after five grueling hours, I came to a conclusion.

(This pretty much goes for any prized possession, so feel free to replace the word "ring" with any of your choosing.)

My ring is my most prized possession. It was given to me by someone I love more than the whole world, and it holds a lot of sentimental value because it is representative of my relationship with that person. And people always say that material possessions shouldn't be your priority, but this ring is up there amongst my priorities because it's more than just a ring. But maybe they have a point. As much as I love that ring, it's nothing compared to the relationship I have with my mom. Of course, it's nice to sit there and look at my ring and think about my mom, but that's not the same thing as spending time with her. It's not the same thing as calling her in the middle of the day to tell her I'm thinking about her, spending my lunch break with her because I haven't seen her in a week or just hanging out with her at home when we're both exhausted from a long day at work. And although those things seem so trivial, they're not.

In the end, your ring will be sitting there on your finger, but if you don't have any memories to be reminded of, then your ring doesn't serve a purpose. So I'm not telling you to go out there and lose your mom's priceless class ring. But what I am telling you to do is think about it a little, because what's even more important than your ring is the memories it brings back for you. And the most important thing of all is to make those memories in the first place.

(Eventually, my friend stumbled upon my ring in his kitchen, where his mother had been keeping it safe upon finding it in the backyard. Thanks, Neil.)