DEAR ABBY: Do I have to stop wearing my wedding ring? My husband died three years ago. We had been married 53 years and 12 days. Abby, I pledged "until death do us part." I just can't seem to make myself take off the ring he put on my finger so many years ago.
I'm tired of being told that I "have" to give up something so precious to me. Is there a time limit, or is it OK for me to go ahead with wearing the ring and ignore the people who pester me about taking it off? Maybe a time will come when I'll want to, but not now, not yet. Please give me some sound advice. -- ARIZONA WIDOW
DEAR WIDOW: Please accept my sympathy for your loss. Widows and widowers usually remove their wedding ring at the point when they decide they would like to begin dating again. When they do, some of them choose to move the ring from their left to the right hand. Others put it away as a treasured keepsake.
There is no set time at which your wedding ring "must" come off. If and when you feel the time is right, it will happen -- or not. This is a personal decision that no one can or should make for you.