there's more to life than this

I lost it. I have been wearing it for 14 years. I can't say that I've worn anything else, other than my birthday suit, for that long.

It was a simple silver band with a Hopi wave pattern. I've been wearing it on my left thumb from the day I bought it. The ring itself has its own symbology (wave=water, cycles of life), but for me it also represented a day's work. I worked part-time at the Southwest Museum and at the end of one of my minimum wage days I took the day's earnings and bought the ring.

Recently it had attempted to escape me, flying off of my hand and rolling through the parking lot. Last night I was loading and unloading things for the concert series at work, and when I got home I noticed that it was gone. It finally has achieved its freedom from me.

Is it unhappy coincidence, a sign that it is time for me to start a new cycle in life, or a symbol of how life has been escaping/draining from me for the past 9 months?