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Kantey got Chris a watch and he read aloud two poems: one he had written and the other, Shakespeare's sonnet XVIII. The latter is Kantey's favorite and is famous for its inquisitive opening line: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
Suddenly, Chris pulled out a heart-shaped ring box and revealed the diamond-encrusted band with a small center stone that lay inside. Kantey began to cry.
"He said, 'This is to symbolize one year of our relationship. I'll propose to you with a bigger ring when the time is right," Kantey recalls, smiling.
She immediately slipped the promise ring onto her right hand, where she has worn it ever since.
"I do" - just not yet
Promise rings, most commonly thought of as pre-engagement rings, have become increasingly popular among young college students serious about their relationships, but not prepared to get down on one knee or say "I do" just yet. Whereas it used to be more common for college couples to get engaged as they approached graduation, promise rings present a sort of modern alternative.
Junior Felicia Rodriguez and her boyfriend Billy Green, a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, prefer to call the sterling silver heart-shaped band that she wears on her right middle finger a "commitment ring" rather than a promise ring.
"Even though commitment and promise are similar, I feel like commitment is a better word because a commitment is an action - you have to do it everyday. It's more of a responsibility. A promise is something you make and you can break," Rodriguez said.
Green gave Rodriguez the ring last February as an anniversary and Valentine's Day gift. The two reunited in January after a 10-month split during Rodriguez's year studying abroad. Green said time apart was an "epiphany" for him and prompted his decision to buy the ring.
