Sunday closed out what was an epic weekend of recoveries. I didn’t think it could get any better until I got home around noon and saw an email from Jesse. He left his phone number so I immediately called him. Now before I go any further, some of you may not know about my relationship with Texas A&M. Last spring I got a call from an Aggie saying she had lost her class ring at night and I was lucky enough to find it. Then I was on the beach in the summer and a man approached me saying he lost his, you guessed it, Texas A&M class ring. I found it. Later in the summer, I got another call and after I found his too, I joked that I would need an honorary t-shirt or something if I kept finding them. It happened to get on the Aggie website and people were sharing left and right and messaging me to say thanks and I even got a 12th man towel sent to me. Awesome people. 😃. The calls kept coming but I ran into some bad luck. I had the first Aggie ring that I just couldn’t find and then I had another that was lost on the National Seashore and the Ranger would not give me permission to even look. I thought maybe the magic with the Aggies was over. That was until Jessie said the ring he lost was a class ring. I said, wait a minute, are you an Aggie? When he said yes, I laughed a little to myself and said, I’m coming to find your ring. I talked my secret good luck charm (my wife) into going for some added help and we set off for another hour drive to Alabama. Jesse was still there with his parents standing watch and we talked for a bit before I started my search in the water. There were tons of people and it took all of my social skills to keep a good line while at the same time not risking the Coronavirus. Two hours later I was seriously wishing for the last 2 days where I had quick recoveries. I was determined though and I came back to talk to Jessie and check on my wife. My wife told me later that she had overheard Jesse’s dad consoling him and comforting him saying it would all be ok. She got a bit choked up and decided then to make me keep going no matter what. She is a trooper. I took a different approach in my questioning with Jesse and felt some renewed hope when I realized Jesse was trying to tell me where he thought the ring would be and not where he was. You can credit his Mom for having him stand in the water where he thought he had lost it. I got a whole new perspective when he said he had walked out in front of one of the volleyball courts but he couldn’t remember which one. I started my second pass and I got a loud signal that sounded like a penny. I had already dug over 50 pennies in the previous hours but I never leave a good signal when I’m helping someone just in case. Sure enough, in the scoop was this young Aggie’s solid gold ring that means an incredible amount to him. I looked up and realized that no one was paying attention and they didn’t see me scoop it. So I took my headphones off and walked over to the family as if I had another question. I said Jesse, one more thing. Looking dejected he said, yes sir? I said, it was the second volleyball court. As I smiled and held out my scoop they all realized what I was saying and literally jumped up and down hugging each other! It was awesome! What other hobby let’s you help so many people. Keep them coming Texas A&M, I don’t ever want you to lose one but if you do, I’ll be here to help. Congrats Jesse, your Mom and Dad and your Collegiate family are awesome! GIG EM! 😃
