On the receiving end...

This week I lost my wedding ring. On Thursday at 11am I know it was on my finger--I happened to be talking with a friend about gem size (how random!) and I looked at my ring for reference.

A few hours later, at 3pm, I sat at the computer to do something and as I looked down at my hand I noticed that the band was there but the diamond ring was not.

In the interim I had done laundry, washed dishes, and run several errands...including spending an hour at the beach with my kids. I began searching the house and car, but my gut told me from the beginning that my ring was probably at the beach.

My ring has never fit very snugly, but it has never fallen off either. But cold fingers shrink a bit and I had forgotten my gloves so my hands had been nearly numb at the beach.  Plus there had been a lot of picking up/putting down with the baby and that could have snagged it and pulled it off. That was the only explanation I could think of for how it could have gotten off my finger without my noticing.

Ironic, I think, to lose my wedding ring mere days after posting here that it was my most treasured item. At the time I wrote that post I had no idea how much it would upset me to lose it. I am not one to get very upset over things--things are just things, not as important as people...but I definitely was upset. I even cried, which isn't terribly common for me (and surprised me a little, because I can't recall ever having cried over a thing before).

In any case, as I searched around the house, I also left a message on a facebook group that I'm part of. It's a local 'buy/sell/trade' group, and I had not even known of its existence until literally a week ago when a friend recommended it as a good place to sell our box spring.  So I posted that I had lost a white gold diamond solitaire with engraving inside and that I was pretty sure it was at Bishop's Beach, and that I knew it was a long shot but if anyone happened to find it please let me know.
In the first 24 hours several people commented and one offered to let me borrow a metal detector after the weekend, but I admit I was still not very hopeful. One little ring on a whole rocky beach. Even knowing roughly where I had been on that beach, one shifted rock could mean the difference between ever finding it or not. Not to mention the tide...

This is the beach where I lost it...lots of rocks...not a smooth surface anywhere

Then last night someone asked (on the facebook thread) if I had reported it on Bushlines. Apparently the local radio station does a lost & found, ridesharing, lost pets, and a job line all rolled into one "bushline" which is broadcast three times a day. So I called in and reported my ring missing and left my number. About the same time I called, someone (a complete stranger to me) replied on the FB thread saying that her husband said that he thought he'd heard a wedding ring reported found at Bishop's Beach the night before on bushlines... Well, nothing to do but wait at that point.

Then someone called from church saying that he'd found a ring. I surmised that his wife had seen my facebook status that my ring was missing. I couldn't imagine how he might have found my ring but he asked me to describe it and I started with "white gold" and "a square diamond" and he interjected "with three small diamonds on each side!" Um, no, no diamonds on the side. Apparently he had found someone elses ring.  (It had been in their truck and they found it when they were cleaning out--his wife had given me a ride a week or so ago so he guessed it was mine. But it wasn't. (Apparently wedding rings go missing a lot, or, at least, a lot have gone missing this week...in addition to mine and the one that turned up in my friend's truck, two of my other friends said they have also lost their rings recently, and my new sister in law lost hers this week as well...they've been praying for me to find mine, I continue to pray for them to find theirs.)

This morning I turned on the radio at 9:30 to make sure I didn't miss Bushlines at 10. At 9:50 or so, my phone rang. It was a woman saying that the radio station had just called her, and she thought she had my ring but could I describe it. Oh boy could I describe it! White gold, square diamond, band soldered to the side "and it's engraved" she said, "what does the engraving say?"

home again

And of course, since it was my ring, I knew what the engraving says.

ever will I love you

She said she had been playing with her dog on the beach and saw a ring laying there and figured somebody would like it back. So she brought it home and she called Bushlines. She also reported it to the police (it'll probably still appear in next week's blotter).
I made my famous brownies and took her a plate of warm soft chocolate goodness when I went to pick up the ring. I thanked her profusely and told her she made a miracle for me this week.Her husband (who was the one who was home when I went to get it) said that as soon as I told her what the engraving said she knew I was the rightful owner. I guess that goes to show that it's good to get engraving on your rings, AND to have it say something unique!

This week I was on the receiving end of a miracle.
One stranger found my ring and reported it to bushlines.
A local radio station (run by strangers) offered a program where such a thing could be reported.
A friend had recommended joining the swap page at just the right time.
Many friends prayed for me to find it.
A stranger heard the bushlines announcement,
and his wife (another stranger) saw my post on the swap page and replied to me.
And now I have my treasure back on my hand again.
And I am very grateful. I love this community.

(and if you wouldn't mind, send up a prayer for my sister in law and my two friends who haven't found their rings yet...I am)