Family Heirloom Returned at St Pete Beach, Florida
Who would have thought that a wedding band lost in the Gulf of Mexico would ever have been found again. This is a story with a wonderful ending thanks to the wonderful guys at SRARC.com. My husband an I were just married in April of 2014. My husband is very close to his family and especially a grandfather who has since passed away. He had his grandfather’s wedding band that had WM to BW 1946. They got married right after he got back from WWII. They were married for 46 wonderful years. We took the gold wedding ring and « soddered » it in the middle of two white gold bands from me. So there was an heirloom from his grandfather and a piece of me, we then added our own inscription to the existing inscription. CB to WS 4/2014. We had our own special love story. We dated for two years in NY and then I moved to Florida for work – Long story short, Bill stayed in NY, he was a teacher and wrestling coach and had a great teaching job in NY. We spent every holiday and vacation back and forth between Florida and New York. Bill showed up one day unbeknownst to me when I was visiting my father in Orlando to say he was here to stay, he was teaching in Tampa. We were married ocean-side in a beautiful ceremony just a few months later. I was so happy to put that ring on his finger.
So, on labor day, we spent a beautiful Monday at my favorite place, St. Pete Beach. We were in the water and all of a sudden I heard Bill say words that put my heart in my throat. “My ring just fell off in the water”. I knew too many people who have lost their rings in the water forever. We looked for hours and could not find it. Leaving the beach that night was heartbreaking. It felt like that was it, we will never see it again. We went home and got on the computer and after only one search I found the SRARC group. Stan contacted me really quickly and we made arrangements to meet in the eve. So I could show him where we were. After they asked me a whole bunch of questions which would help them ascertain where we were, they started looking even before I got there. Chris was already looking when he ran into Stan. I got a phone call later that day from Chris – he found the ring. If I could have kissed Chris on the spot I would have! I was elated!
When I went to pick the ring up, I met Chris and his wife. Two very lovely, sweet people. I did actually hug Chris. I was so happy, I was actually shaking. My husband had just started a new job and couldn’t be there to pick it up, but believe me he was more than ecstatic.
Who would have thought a ring in an ocean would ever be found and found the very next day. I am forever indebted. Not only did they find my ring, but the club does it for free. I did donate to the club itself, but nobody would take money individually. What angels you guys are!
I said a Novena to St. Anthony that day that it was lost – and he sent me you guys! Thank you
