--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Be sure to keep my ruby choker and the…" description: "\"“Be sure to keep my ruby choker and the pearl and emerald set for the person you will marry,” she said during one of these walks. “I’m not planning on ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_getting-married_be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-p_304131.jpg" --- # Be sure to keep my ruby choker and the pearl and emerald… ![“Be sure to keep my ruby choker and the pearl and emerald set for the person you will marry,” she said during one of these walks. “I’m not planning on getting married any time soon,” I told her, and she said that she wished she could say the same for dying. Ultimately, I disobeyed her. After she…” quote by Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_getting-married_be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-p_304131.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_getting-married_be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-p_304131.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_getting-married_be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-p_304131.jpg) > ““Be sure to keep my ruby choker and the pearl and emerald set for the person you will marry,” she said during one of these walks. “I’m not planning on getting married any time soon,” I told her, and she said that she wished she could say the same for dying. Ultimately, I disobeyed her. After she was gone I was unable to open up and examine the contents of all those flat red boxes she’d kept hidden in a suitcase on her closet shelf, never mind set something aside for the sake of my future happiness.”” [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker promises to keep cherished items for a future spouse, yet reveals personal reluctance toward marriage and unresolved grief. **In simple terms:** Promises about future love clash with present doubts and loss. Key Takeaway Align promises with personal readiness. Themes marriage grief promise memory future planning Mood melancholic thoughtful Type narrative reflective When to use this quote - family heirlooms - relationship planning - grief processing Key Concepts psychology of attachment cultural expectations Questions to Reflect On - What does keeping the items symbolize? - How do you reconcile past promises with current feelings? A Different Perspective Promises may bind you to expectations you cannot fulfill. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choker Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choker-pearl-2899417/) [Getting married](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-married/) [Marry Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marry-said-411408/) [Mind set](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-set/) [Person Marry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-marry-480412/) [Ruby Choker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruby-choker-2899416/) [Ultimately Disobeyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimately-disobeyed-2899415/) ## Related quotes > [I just thought you only need to like a person to marry him, which's quite naive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-tiwari/i-just-thought-you-only-need-to-like-a-person-to-marry-him-which-s/) [Shweta Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-tiwari/) > [Why? Oh, well - I thought you'd be rather an attractive person to marry. That's all. I mean, I sort of took a fancy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/why-oh-well-i-thought-you-d-be-rather-an-attractive-person-to-marry/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [People do not marry people, not real ones anyway; they marry what they think the person is; they marry illusions and images. The exciting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-framo/people-do-not-marry-people-not-real-ones-anyway-they-marry-what-they/) [James Framo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-framo/) > [It is very important that you should choose the person you will marry and stay with that person. There are many people now who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam/it-is-very-important-that-you-should-choose-the-person-you-will-marry/) [Miriam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam/) > [“There is no one more likely to destroy us than the person we marry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/there-is-no-one-more-likely-to-destroy-us-than-the-person-we-marry/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“They say in the east you love the person you marry and in the west you marry the person you love. But maybe it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanuja-desai-hidier/they-say-in-the-east-you-love-the-person-you-marry-and-in-the-west/) [Tanuja Desai Hidier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanuja-desai-hidier/) > [People will go to endless trouble to divorce one person and then marry someone who is exactly the same, except probably a bit poorer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mortimer/people-will-go-to-endless-trouble-to-divorce-one-person-and-then/) [John Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mortimer/) > [Both men and women today see marriage not as a way of creating character and community but as a way to reach personal life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/both-men-and-women-today-see-marriage-not-as-a-way-of-creating/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [You don't marry one person; you marry three: the person you think they are, the person they are, and the person they are going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-needham/you-don-t-marry-one-person-you-marry-three-the-person-you-think-they/) [Richard J. Needham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-needham/) > [“You can’t help who you love, Ciara! And sometimes it isn’t the right person… and sometimes it isn’t the person you marry!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-michelle-lynch/you-can-t-help-who-you-love-ciara-and-sometimes-it-isn-t-the-right/) [Sarah Michelle Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-michelle-lynch/) > [The quickest way to stop noticing something may be to buy it, just as the quickest way to stop appreciating a person may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-pearson/the-quickest-way-to-stop-noticing-something-may-be-to-buy-it-just-as/) [Allison Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-pearson/) > [The person you should marry is your best friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-davis-doctor-g/the-person-you-should-marry-is-your-best-friend/) [Glenn Davis Doctor G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-davis-doctor-g/) > [If only I could see what type of women I will become after I got married, I'll make sure I choose the right person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pheonysia-biden-missgerrard88/if-only-i-could-see-what-type-of-women-i-will-become-after-i-got/) [Pheonysia Biden á¦â« (@missgerrard88](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pheonysia-biden-missgerrard88/) > [Well, the one thing I've thought about is having dad give me away. You know when he takes your hand and he puts it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiera-cass/well-the-one-thing-i-ve-thought-about-is-having-dad-give-me-away-you/) [Kiera Cass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiera-cass/) > [There are no better person to marry rather than your best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-no-better-person-to-marry-rather-than-your-best-friend/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jhumpa Lahiri > [“Assured by his grades and his apparent indifference to girls, his parents don't suspect Gogol of being, in his own fumbling way, an American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/assured-by-his-grades-and-his-apparent-indifference-to-girls-his/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [...that in spite of living in a mansion an American is not above wearing a pair of secondhand pants, bought for fifty cents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/that-in-spite-of-living-in-a-mansion-an-american-is-not-above-wearing/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [He owned an expensive camera that required thought before you pressed the shutter, and I quickly became his favorite subject, round-faced, missing teeth, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/he-owned-an-expensive-camera-that-required-thought-before-you-pressed/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [If I stop to think about fans, or best-selling, or not best-selling, or good reviews, or not-good reviews, it just becomes too much. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/if-i-stop-to-think-about-fans-or-best-selling-or-not-best-selling-or/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“This tradition doesn't exist for Bengalis, naming a son after father or grandfather, a daughter after mother or grandmother. This sign of respect in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/this-tradition-doesn-t-exist-for-bengalis-naming-a-son-after-father/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [I wanted to pull away from the things that marked my parents as being different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/i-wanted-to-pull-away-from-the-things-that-marked-my-parents-as-being/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“Ashoke suspects that Mrs. Jones (the secretary at his new job as a professor) ...is about his own mother's age. Mrs. Jones leads a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/ashoke-suspects-that-mrs-jones-the-secretary-at-his-new-job-as-a/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [But she has gathered that Americans, in spite of their public declarations of affection, in spite of their miniskirts and bikinis, in spite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/but-she-has-gathered-that-americans-in-spite-of-their-public/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [The sky was different, without color, taut and unforgiving. But the water was the most unforgiving thing, nearly black at times, cold enough, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/the-sky-was-different-without-color-taut-and-unforgiving-but-the/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“In those six weeks I regarded her arrival as I would the arrival of a coming month, or season - something inevitable, but meaningless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/in-those-six-weeks-i-regarded-her-arrival-as-i-would-the-arrival-of-a/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [There were times Ruma felt closer to her mother in death than she had in life, an intimacy born simply of thinking of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/there-were-times-ruma-felt-closer-to-her-mother-in-death-than-she-had/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“Writing down call numbers with short pencils, searching up and down aisles that would turn dark when the timers on the lights expired. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/writing-down-call-numbers-with-short-pencils-searching-up-and-down/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [Winning the Pulitzer is wonderful and it's an honor and I feel so humbled and so grateful, but I think that I'll think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/winning-the-pulitzer-is-wonderful-and-it-s-an-honor-and-i-feel-so/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [He tries to peel the image from the sticky yellow backing, to show her the next time he sees her, but it clings stubbornly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/he-tries-to-peel-the-image-from-the-sticky-yellow-backing-to-show-her/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [“If I stop to think about fans, or bestselling, or not bestselling, or good reviews, or not-good reviews, it just becomes too much. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/if-i-stop-to-think-about-fans-or-bestselling-or-not-bestselling-or/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) [Explore all 215 Jhumpa Lahiri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) ## More Getting married quotes > [“He’d parted reluctantly from Amily, thinking again with envy of Lena and Bear. One thing that they hadn’t been forced to deal with during…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-lackey/he-d-parted-reluctantly-from-amily-thinking-again-with-envy-of-lena/) [Mercedes Lackey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-lackey/) > [Phil is of a generation that probably would have been happier never getting married. He just doesn't want to get married again; it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanie-buss/phil-is-of-a-generation-that-probably-would-have-been-happier-never/) [Jeanie Buss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanie-buss/) > [Getting married is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It's fantastic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-redman/getting-married-is-one-of-the-best-things-that-has-ever-happened-to/) [Amanda Redman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-redman/) > [For many, many people, getting married is one of the most important things they will ever do in the pursuit of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/for-many-many-people-getting-married-is-one-of-the-most-important/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“What you don't ever catch a glimpse of on your wedding day - because how could you? - is that some days you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/what-you-don-t-ever-catch-a-glimpse-of-on-your-wedding-day-because/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [“You just asked me to marry you," he said, still waiting for me to admit some kind of trickery. "I know." "That was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/you-just-asked-me-to-marry-you-he-said-still-waiting-for-me-to-admit/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [“The girl, indeed, is rare who does not, on getting married, attempt to remodel her husband according to her own ideas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyubov-dostoyevskaya/the-girl-indeed-is-rare-who-does-not-on-getting-married-attempt-to/) [Lyubov Dostoyevskaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyubov-dostoyevskaya/) > [We loved getting married on the east coast of Mexico.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-cooper/we-loved-getting-married-on-the-east-coast-of-mexico/) [Alex Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-cooper/) > [You know what getting married is? It's agreeing to taking this person who right now is at the top of his form, full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-smiley/you-know-what-getting-married-is-it-s-agreeing-to-taking-this-person/) [Jane Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-smiley/) > [“What is it?” I asked, pasting a magazine photo of a football--found in an old Seventeen magazine spread--on my beloved’s collage. “Well, a bunch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/what-is-it-i-asked-pasting-a-magazine-photo-of-a-football-found-in-an/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [I feel like I'm the kind of guy that would have kids before getting married. The first thing would be kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-weeknd/i-feel-like-i-m-the-kind-of-guy-that-would-have-kids-before-getting/) [The Weeknd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-weeknd/) > [If you ever fall in love with a girl and her name is Summer, you will love her forever and end up getting married](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-ever-fall-in-love-with-a-girl-and-her-name-is-summer-you-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Even harder was describing his sense that Shroom’s death might have ruined him for anything else, because when he died? when I felt his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/even-harder-was-describing-his-sense-that-shroom-s-death-might-have/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) > [“You need to be intellectually attractive, financially independent and emotionally available before getting married.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anyaele-sam-chiyson/you-need-to-be-intellectually-attractive-financially-independent-and/) [Anyaele Sam Chiyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anyaele-sam-chiyson/) > [Let me marry in a normal way. I know I'm a public figure, but the person I'm getting married to might need privacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/navya-nair/let-me-marry-in-a-normal-way-i-know-i-m-a-public-figure-but-the/) [Navya Nair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/navya-nair/) [Browse all 595 Getting married quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-married/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Be sure to keep my ruby choker and the pearl and emerald set for the person you will marry,” she said during one of these walks. “I’m not planning on getting married any time soon,” I told her, and she said that she wished she could say the same for dying. Ultimately, I disobeyed her. After she was gone I was unable to open up and examine the contents of all those flat red boxes she’d kept hidden in a suitcase on her closet shelf, never mind set something aside for the sake of my future happiness.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jhumpa Lahiri" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-pearl-and-emerald-set-for-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Getting married" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-pearl-and-emerald-set-for-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_getting-married_be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-p_304131.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_getting-married_be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-p_304131.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcb/jhumpa-lahiri-1596_getting-married_be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-p_304131.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Be sure to keep my ruby choker and the pearl and emerald set for the person you will marry,” she said during…” — Jhumpa Lahiri", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jhumpa Lahiri", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Be sure to keep my ruby...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-pearl-and-emerald-set-for-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/be-sure-to-keep-my-ruby-choker-and-the-pearl-and-emerald-set-for-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```