We got an interesting email the other day from the office of student affairs at Virginia Tech. The email said that someone found Ward's class ring and contacted them because they wanted to return it. The university was trying to verify if they had the right person to go with the name engraved inside the ring.It turns out that a man in Kansas found the ring in the bottom of a box while he was going through things in preparation for moving. He has no idea how it got there. The last Ward remembers, he took it off to wash his hands in a bathroom and hasn't seen it since. That was 25 years ago in Houston. The man said he has never been to Houston and has no association with Virginia Tech. So far, no one can connect any dots to understand how he ended up with it. The stranger very kindly mailed it to Ward and he got it yesterday. Ward was thrilled to have it back. Hooray for the kindness of strangers.
This story reminds of a ring I lost several years ago. My sister had a new house and I was helping her paint. I took off my rings to keep them clean and put them in my pocket. However later that day when I went to put them back on, my engagement ring was missing. I searched high and low for weeks and even got a metal detector to go through my sister's yard. My best guess was that when I took my car keys out of my pocket the ring came out, too.
Of course, there was sentimental value to the ring for me, but I could get another one if I wanted. I was more concerned about what I was going to tell Ward's grandmother. The ring had been her mother's and she very carefully said that if anything ever happened between Ward and me, the ring came back so that it would stay in the family. In the beginning, I hoped that the ring would show up somewhere. However after several months when I still hadn't found it, I started to worry about how I was going to tell his grandmother. Each time I visited, I tried to hide my hand so she wouldn't notice. I considered not telling her, but I didn't think that was the right thing to do. Just as soon as I finally had decided that I was going to tell her on our next visit, my sister called. She had found the ring! She was planting flowers and found it buried in the dirt. Boy, was I happy! That happened on Mother's Day and I'm not sure if there was significance to that, but I think there might be.
There you have it. Two lost rings, two found rings. Sometimes it does pay to be patient.
What a neat story and what happy endings. I lost my engagement ring at a resort in Florida years ago. I remember taking my rings off and putting just my wedding band back on. We were going into the gulf and I left the diamond in a plastic cup on the bathroom counter. That was the last I ever saw of it. I don't know if someone accidentally knocked it off , thought the cup was garbage and it wound up in the trash or if it was taken. All i know is when we returned the suite had been cleaned and no ring.
ReplyDeleteYou never know, it may show up one day. Ward certainly thought his ring was gone for good. However, I didn't have much hope for my engagement ring. While Ward had identifying information on his ring, there was nothing on mine to return it to me even if someone had found it.
DeleteDid you get another ring?
That's amazing! I'm glad you both got your rings back... and that you didn't have to incur Ward's grandma's wrath and disappointment :)
ReplyDeleteShe was in a nursing home by this point and I really didn't want to disappoint her. Thank goodness I didn't have to.
DeleteHow wonderful that you both recovered your rings! I lost my mother's engagement ring from when she married my father. She had given it to me to wear and I wore it to a cousin's wedding. It was a little too loose on the finger I wore it on, but too tight to wear on the other finger. I remember someone admiring it and that was the last time I saw that ring on my finger. When I came home and went to take the ring off, it was already gone! I went back to the venue the next day, with a friend, to look for it, but we couldn't find it. I had stayed behind, after the wedding, to help clean up, so I assume it slid off my finger during that time. My mother was very philosophical about the loss of the ring and, in fact, had a duplicate made for me, but I still regret losing the original. It had sentimental value which the replacement ring doesn't have.
ReplyDeleteApparently, rings are easy to lose. Your mother was a very practical woman and we should all take a page from her book.
DeleteThis is not about losing rings but about replacement rings. When my Grandmother died she had 2 daughters but only one diamond ring. They took some of the money from her estate and had an identical ring made, plus had her original one professionally buffed and shined. Then they had the jeweler put both rings into a velvet bag. The ring drawing was random and neither knows which ring they have, so there is equal sentimentality for both. Now my cousin and my sister wear the rings daily which is so very sweet and Grandmother would be thrilled.
DeleteThat is a great way to handle an inheritance. Now I'm trying to figure out if I have anything that I would do that with. Nothing comes to mind, but I'll keep that idea tucked away.
DeleteWhat a story! Someone on my facebook scroll said they were contacted by a woman who found her drivers license in their garden. She'd lost it, but 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI guess people find long, lost things all the time. The most amazing are when someone finds a long, lost relative or friend. That must be remarkable.
DeleteI love these type of stories when strangers go out of their way to return something so valuable and sentimental. So glad ya'll found both rings!! God Bless
ReplyDeleteWe're very happy that we found both ring. And my husband has his ring now because of the kindness of strangers.
DeleteAmazing stories about your rings! I lost my HS class ring ca 1973 during a touch football game at my cousin's house near Shepherdstown. So far, it hasn't been found. It's been years since I have been there, so I haven't had a chance to resume the search.
ReplyDeleteWe are often invoking the name of St. Anthony when something is lost. My mother-in-law was a great believer in the power of St. Anthony, so we are often repeating, "Tony, Tony, come around, something's lost and can't be found." We're very good at losing things at our house!
I know where my high school ring is. It's in my old jewelry box. However, it fell down the garbage disposal at my sister's house while I was in college. I didn't get much wear out of it after that.
DeleteI remember Miss Irene, who lived next door to us in New Orleans, stayed up all night praying to St. Anthony because Teddy had escaped outside and we couldn't find her. Teddy came back on her own, so maybe it worked.
Ouch!
ReplyDeleteTeddy must have missed his little outdoor "cage."
I don't think we had them at that point.
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