Nebraska Cornhusker football games are times where you see all types of people; people from all over the state and people from very different generations. You also get to know the people you sit next to way too well.

These are the people you see every Saturday. They are the people you high five, complain with and occasionally cry with. Husker fans are like family. Some of my fondest memories come from sitting in that crammed stadium next to the lady with the rings.

Ever since I was a little girl we would sit next to this cute, older couple in South stadium, two rows above the tunnel walk. You could tell they had been season ticket holders for years by their vintage Husker apparel and passion for the experience. It was when we were clapping to the beat of “Can You Feel It?” when I saw the jaw-dropping jewels on the lady’s hand beside me. I noticed the rings.

Of course, the first ring I noticed was the biggest ring. It was clearly from Borsheims, the heaven of all jewelry. It was classy, not gaudy and clear as day. An oval diamond with little diamonds forming a halo around the rock.

It was on her left middle finger, right next to her wedding ring. The new next to the old. My immediate reaction was thinking that this lady was loaded. I then thought, “Well, what other jewels does she have?” It was that moment, when I saw the story and the rich history of the couple.

The next three rings were quite the gems as well. They ranged in different colors, sizes and shapes. These rings found their forever home on her right hand. One ring was “Husker themed”, with little red stones paired with pearls to form into an “N” for Nebraska. You can only hope that this was a celebratory national championship ring. Talk about the cutest husker fans I have ever seen.

The next two rings were timeless and clean. One happened to be a nice sized ruby surrounded by little diamonds. This ring was a bit smaller in scale compared to the Husker ring. The fourth ring was quite smaller than all of the rings, but one gorgeous stone. This opal ring was mounted on a gold band that sat on her right hand’s middle finger.

As I was unintentionally staring at this lady’s hands as they clapped right on beat with the music, I couldn’t help but notice that the rings gradually decreased in size. My curious eyes wondered from the biggest ring to the smallest ring, which happened to be her wedding ring. This ring was the smallest of them all, with a thick gold band with an itty bitty round diamond mounted in the middle. It looked even smaller compared to the first ring I noticed, which intrigued me even more. The newest ring sat right next to the oldest, but the value clearly resided with the smallest and oldest ring of them all.

As my young and eager mind wandered from hand to hand, finger to finger, I saw how the couple grew and where the most value was held. I learned a lot from the lady with the rings. I learned that you have to be a beginner before you can be anything else. You could see that as each year went by, the couple grew stronger and stronger, becoming more successful day by day. After they got married, they became more stable which represented the opal and ruby ring.

As the years went by, their kids got older, and the Huskers got better, the Husker themed ring was earned. And now here they are, in the last half of their life. As the rings increased year by year, finger by finger, the couple is stronger than ever which represents the mother of all rings.

But while I was in awe of the big and bold rings, I came to the conclusion that the most value was in the smallest, her wedding ring. She didn’t replace her small ring, she wore it like it was the most important ring of them all. I learned value and love from the lady with the rings. I saw where hard work will take you, but to never lose sight of what got you there. Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it become a memory. It’s the building years where the fertile soil is located.

Thank you, lady with the rings, for teaching us all a lesson.