Lisa sat quietly at the edge of a dock she had been visiting since she was a little girl. While recalling all the fun memories, Lisa felt the need to feel the cool water of the lake one last time before her vacation was over. With a quick jump Lisa dove headfirst in the deep green water. The rush of the coolness and the excited arm movements brought Lisa back to the surface but sent her late mothers heirloom ring sinking deep into the abyss. The quick fleeting elated feeling she had, vanished as she actually felt the ring slide off of her finger. There was no time to waste. The news of the lost ring made it back to her family at the lake house. The idea of a lost ring sparked a memory in the mind of Lisa’s daughter Samatha. She had seen The Ring Finders videos and looked up the website.

As I sat baking in the warm morning sunshine, I got an unknown number on my cell phone calling me. Samatha was the caller and had found my finders page and was asking for my help. However, the urgency of the call became apparent, when she said she had to take a flight home at 4pm that day. As quick as a comic book superhero could change out of his street clothes and into his super suit, I packed up all of my gear and headed to Deer Lake. I met Samantha and Lisa at the dock, and we went over the details of how Lisa lost her ring. Then the meticulous task of a solo dive began. No step can be missed. Hook up regs to the tanks, turn on air, check mouthpiece and pressure, spit in face mask, put on fins and Bcd. Double check the air and pressure. Then over the edge of the dock I went. I searched for about an hour with no luck. I came back to the surface to let the silt die down and realign my search grid. The second dive turned up a bunch of cans but no ring. With 1000 psi left in the tank I came back up. As I was looking for Samantha, she came walking up to the edge of the dock. She had to go catch her flight. So, as she left, she told me to look more to the left of my dive line. I took her advice and moved my line a few feet over.  As I started searching again, I found another can but after that signal a low but steady signal screamed in my headphone. After pinpointing the target, I activated my patent pending grab and pull method. As the silt clouds plumed over my head, I felt a hard object touch my fingers. As it bobbled around in the mud, my finger slipped through the hole in the middle of it. I frantically moved my hand towards my mask to turn on my GoPro so I could capture the moment I found Lisa’s ring.

After quietly celebrating, I heard the urgency clock ticking in my head. Had Lisa and Samantha left? Can I catch them before they leave? All these thoughts ran through my head as I slowly ascended to the surface. The dock was full of people that knew I was looking for a lost ring. So, a small celebration happened as I popped out of the water saying, « I Found it ». After, I had to make my way back to shore to shed off my gear and then make the all-important call to Samatha. « Are you still here?  » I asked her after she said hello, she replied with a  » Yes », so I said, « I found it « . The news spread through the family’s home like emotional waves and Lisa and her sister embraced each other as they both cried happy tears.

Lisa and Samatha came back to the dock to reclaim Lisa’s ring. I was so happy that I didn’t have to spread my wings to catch them in midair. I would have gladly done so to see the smile Lisa had on her face. That beautiful sapphire ring was the last item her late mother had given her before she passed away.

If not for Samatha’s redirection I would of ran out of air and postponed the search. Sometimes the smallest adjustments make the most profound changes, always listen to what is being said and react accordingly.