So the fall of 2004 went bu unremarkabley.

Ha.

In fact, the fall of 2004 was just another great season in what had alread been a great year.

My girlfriend and I were both now settled into jobs, and we had worked out a system of seeing each other at least every other weekend. But more importantly, that fall we had something that connected us and brought us even closer together: the Boston Red Sox.

We had watched in horror as the Sox lost game 7 of the 2003 A.L.C.S. It was heartwrenching. And we watched in horror again as Boston was absolutely pummelled in game three of the 2004 A.L.C.S.

And then, the greatest comeback in sports history happened. We had been watching together on the phone when we couldn't be together. We were in Vermont together for the first game of the World Series. We were hanging on every pitch, every at bat, every foul ball.

And when they won, we were jubilant, as was the rest of Red Sox Nation. That put me in a good mood that lasted all winter long.

But that fall was important, perhaps even more so, for another reason. It was that fall that I first started seriously considering buying a ring. I knew from very early on that I had met the perfect girl. But now it was time to start looking for the perfect ring. I had a job to pay for it, and I had a plan, so my search started.