Another Ring Back on the Finger: A few days ago, I received a referral about a young man who had lost his brand-new wedding ring—just three months old—right after his big day. He was heartbroken. While brushing heavy snow off cars with his bare hands to clear the driveway for shoveling after a fresh snowfall, the ring slipped off without him noticing at first. He reached out, and I told him I’d drive out the next day—even though it was about 60 miles across town. The forecast was looking good: mid-30s and clear, ideal conditions for a search. I arrived in Farmington, Minnesota, around 2:00 p.m. the following afternoon as Paul Nolan of The Ring Finders. We met up, and he showed me the search area: the driveway, two sidewalks, and the street right in front of his house. The snow was piled 18–24 inches deep along the edges—tough going for any detector. Adding to the challenge, the concrete driveway had plenty of rebar, which throws off signals and makes pinpointing tricky. I started with a quick preliminary sweep of the entire area without moving any vehicles—about 20 minutes—and came up empty. No worries; I always follow up with a slower, more methodical second pass to catch anything subtle. A couple of spots were tough to reach with the cars parked there, but I hoped to avoid shifting them. As I began the second pass, I got a solid tone in a nearby flower bed, under about 6 inches of snow. The target was only a couple of inches down—very promising. I carefully scraped away the snow… and caught a glint of gold. There it was! I knocked on the door and told him I hadn’t found anything yet. The disappointment was clear on his face—he was bummed but understanding about how tough these searches can be. Then I opened my hand and showed him his ring. The look on his face said it all: instant joy, overwhelming relief, and pure happiness. That huge smile, the exhale of tension, the « I can’t believe it »—those moments are exactly why I do this work with The Ring Finders. Nothing beats returning a symbol of love and commitment that someone thought was lost forever. Grateful to have made this happy ending possible in Farmington! If you’ve lost a ring or know someone who has, don’t give up—reach out to The Ring Finders. These recoveries happen more often than you think.
