In Just As I Am Billy Graham writes, “At the close of a preaching series at Sharon Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, those dear people gave me, as I recall, an offering of $165.00. I raced right out and spent almost all of it on an engagement ring with a diamond so big you could almost see it with a magnifying glass.”

When Billy asked Ruth to marry him she immediately sent a telegram to her parents. The telegram read: “Guess what? A ring: perfectly thrilled. May I wear it?” Her parents answered by telegram, “Yes, if it fits. Love and blessing. Mother and Daddy”

In June 1943 Billy and Ruth graduated from Wheaton College in the same class. They were married later that summer in August.