“Daddy! Daddy!” my six-year old blubbered, tears streaking her cheeks as she ran to the car. Throwing the car in park and opening the door, I could see there was indeed a crisis. Was she stung by a wasp? Did she fall and bloody her knee? Perhaps there was a conflict with her older sister over who gets to be next on the tire swing.
As I crouched next to her, hugging her closely, she whispered, “Oh, Daddy… I lost it!”
“What, Honey? What did you lose? » I asked.
She was holding her favorite doll, Sally. Sally… with her blue dress and matted-brown hair, little tattoo lines on her legs and arms from when my daughter was first learning how to hold a pen. I knew Sally wasn’t missing, so what had she misplaced?
“My ring, Daddy. My bunny ring. I lost it in the woods.”
I smiled and nearly laughed out loud. She had lost her ring—her metal ring.
I’ve been metal detecting for nearly three years, and have been part of The Ringfinders network for two of those years. I constantly show my four children all of my “treasures” and often get complaints if I mention bringing my detector on a family outing. You you… just in case. 
“Honey, do you know anyone who might be able to find a missing metal ring?” And I smiled.
Like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza, she lit up from head to toe up with her new realization.
My daddy has a metal detector.
I opened my trunk, took out and turned on my detector in one smooth motion, and walked over to a hammock that hangs on the edge of the woods. Minutes later, her bunny ring was back on her finger and a smile replaced her tears. Dad the superhero; just what every dad longs to be for his daughter.
Although I enjoy helping strangers find lost items, this might be my favorite recovery so far.
