I hear stories every once in awhile, about lost and found jewelry and stones. I have heard stories about center diamonds that disappear due to worn or bent prongs... so have your jewelry checked every so often! I have had people lose an earring, I remake one to match, and the lost one is found a day later. I have heard many bizarre and lucky tales about losing and finding lost jewelry, but this week, I heard one of the most heart warming stories yet.
An older woman came into my store and I helped her with a minor repair. As is usually the case, I wanted to know a little more about my new customer, so we chatted for a bit. She is a widow, and it is obvious she still misses her husband greatly. He passed away a few years ago while they were living in Arizona. It was a sudden and traumatic injury that required him to be life-flighted to a hospital in Phoenix. This particular helicopter was in the midst of doing a training exercise when they got the emergency call, so there was no room for my customer to ride with her husband and she had to go by car to meet him at the hospital. Before they took off, she asked if she could kiss him goodbye. So, with the blades turning and just before take off, she kissed him, said she loved him, and away they flew.
She arrived at the hospital and they warned her that the prognosis was not good, and she should let her children know there wasn't much time left. All their children made it to the hospital to say their goodbyes before he passed.
As his belongings were handed to his wife, she asked where his wedding ring was. No one had seen it. So, she called the helicopter company and they searched the plane and again, no wedding ring.
Time passed, and she moved back to Winterset, Iowa, but did not forget her husband's ring. She called the hospital and the helicopter company every month... every month for three years! Eventually, the hospital asked her to stop calling.
One day she gets a knock on her door, and there stands a man, with a nondescript truck in the street, and she was a little suspicious. The man held a package and told her she needed to open it in front of him so she could tell him if the item was hers. Well, you all know what it was! Her husband's ring had been returned.
It was found while that helicopter was being cleaned. There were tracks along either side of the platform, where wires were laid, and that is where a gentleman found the ring and exclaimed to his co-worker that he had found a gold wedding band. The co-worker says, "I know who that ring belongs to! This crazy lady from Iowa calls once a month, asking if we have found her husband's wedding ring!"
I told her I would really love to see this ring, so she brought it in for me to see a few days after she told me the story. I polished and cleaned it for her, took a picture, and she said I could share her story. She plans to hand the ring down to her son when he is ready for it.
Something once lost might always be found again. That is true for so many things in life.
