Stephen and Tabitha

The King horror, Stephen King, now sapphire wedding! Exactly 45 years ago, he married Tabitha Spruce. Over the years, it has gone a lot: supported her husband in the days when he did not receive from publishers nothing but failure, personally took out the first pages of the novel "Carrie" from the trash and forced King to finish this book, helped Stephen to get rid of alcohol and drug addiction, I did not depart from it on a step when he was mutilated after his summer of 1999, hit by a car. It is no wonder that it has dedicated her he received the 2003 Award for Contribution to the national literature.

In 2013, King wrote a short autobiographical story "Ring" of those days back in 1971.

"RING»

Late one night in the summer of 1970, I rolled over and asked, lying next to me girl, if she wants to get married.

 - We'll talk about this morning - she said. - Now I have to sleep.


In the morning she said that marriage - it's not a very good idea, and in fact, even the very poor, but she still agreed. She was right: it was a bad idea. Young woman Tabitha Spruce has not yet graduated. I graduated, but I could not get a teacher. I worked in an industrial laundry, getting paid a little more than a living wage. We had a loan for education, no savings and no benefits. I had two pairs of underwear, two pairs of jeans, a pair of shoes and a drinking problem. We remember this, set a date: January 2, 1971.

That autumn, we boarded the bus from the Old City, where she lived Tubby, to Bangor, where there was a well-known jewelry store Daze. We asked to see the cheapest set of two wedding rings, which was on sale. With magnificent professional smile, in which there was not a drop of mercy, salesman showed us a pair of thin strips of gold for $ 15. I pulled out his wallet, which was then tacked on to the chain loops biker jeans, and paid for them. In the bus on the way home, I said, "I bet they'll leave a green footprint on our fingers».

Tubby, always caustic tongue, he said: "I hope we carry them long enough to see it».

Ten weeks later or so, we put the rings to each other fingers. The costume that I wore was too big for me - I took a loan from his future brother in law - as my tie would be proud of himself, Jerry Garcia. My newly made wife was dressed in a blue pantsuit, a few months before that served as a bridesmaid dress at the wedding of her friend. She was gorgeous and scared to death. We went to a wedding reception (with tuna sandwiches and soda) on my machine, an aging Buick with breathing its last transmission. All the time I touched a thumb ring on the ring finger of his left hand.

A few years later - three? five? - Tubby when washing dishes, her ring finger slipped off and fell into the drain hole. I tore the cover drain when trying to find it, but in the dark found a bobby pin. The ring disappeared. Then I could buy instead a new, more elegant, but it still was filled with bitter tears because of the loss of the first ring. It is not worth eight dollars - it was priceless.

Life is well treated me on the issue of career. I have written bestsellers and has earned millions of dollars. But I never shot it cheap ring on her left hand since the day my wife with trembling lips and hands and put on his glittering eyes. I know, I know, like a song in the style of country music. But life is so often the case. The ring serves as a reminder of how we lived then: a tiny two-bedroom apartment, poorly working stove and refrigerator noisy, creaking floorboards, house with winter precipitation, the street noise at night over the sink and a poster with the inscription: my friend, us absolutely no strength left. Ring makes think about the future, keep in mind that we had (almost nothing) and what we were (a damn good guys). Does not forget that the price of things, and its value - not necessarily the same thing.

It is now 42 years old, and the green is still no trace.