Actually, over the past few months, I’ve... put on quite a lot of weight.
I can tell just by looking at myself that my weight has increased and my physique has changed.
When I look at commemorative photos taken during family trips...
I think, "Wow, I'm huge!"
I mean, it's all over, but especially around my waist.
Of course, I've been trying to be mindful of how much I eat, cutting back on large portions and seconds, but because of my age, it hasn't really made much of a difference.
Then, around June, I suppose it was.
I make it a rule to take off my wedding ring while working so as not to scratch my watch, but I found it hard to remove.
At first, I told myself, "Maybe I'm just bloated from eating a bit too much yesterday?"
I was just being optimistic, but the truth was, I had simply gained weight.
And by the end of July, I finally couldn't get the ring off at all...
This would interfere with work, so I went on a short-term diet, cutting back on liquids, salt, and food intake.
Feeling like it might finally budge, I endured the sensation of my finger being torn apart,
and after a 15-minute struggle, I managed to get the ring off.
I ignored how painful my bright red left ring finger looked,
but when I left the ring off for a while, my wife said to me,
"Not wearing your ring? Are you planning to get a divorce or something??"
When I replied, "No, actually my finger got so fat I couldn't get the ring off,"
she just left with a smirk without saying a word...
I suppose this would have been a good time to commit to a diet,
but I was too busy with personal matters in August and September to even think about it.
I decided to at least get the ring resized, so I asked Cartier to adjust it at the end of September.
It has been 25 years since we got our wedding rings.
They are "Cartier Trinity Rings" that we bought when my wife was working at Nihonbashi Takashimaya during her time in department store sales.
My wife asked for a ring that could be worn daily, so I left the choice of ring and the price entirely up to her.
They were much more affordable back then, but at the time, her department sometimes held "employee sales,"
and she told me she was given permission to purchase them during one of those events.
Even if you weren't a direct Cartier employee, if you worked as a tenant staff member, you received a 10% discount—a fantastic perk that is unthinkable these days.
I’m truly grateful to my wife that we were able to buy them at that time.
Because of those memories, I feel a bit uneasy when I'm not wearing the ring, so I felt relieved when I finally managed to go get it resized.
Since 25 years had passed, I intended to pay for the repair regardless of the cost,
but they told me that since this was the first time it had been adjusted since purchase, they would do the resizing and polishing free of charge.
I might have been told this when we first bought the rings, but I never expected them to do a free adjustment—I'm so grateful.
And so, the ring size issue has been resolved.
But the most important thing is... not to gain too much weight!
This whole ordeal really made me realize the changes in my body and the effects of getting older.