Fishermen have them... stories of the one that got away. I suppose it's only natural that a person that metal detects has them too. This is the story of the ring that got away. It started as any other day would with near 80 degree weather. The wind is a firm but not too strong Northeast breeze and the beach is packed with vacationers. As I swing my Whites DFX-300 back and fourth over the sand a man approaches and stops me. "Hey Miss! A guy lost his wedding ring right here yesterday it's a mans wedding ring with a 2 carat diamond on it and diamonds around the band." Immediately my mind starts to imagine how large a mans ring must be to be manly enough to hold a 2 carat diamond as well as more diamonds around the band. He goes on to tell me about how the wife was yelling at him for not taking it off "like she had told him to" because it was loose on his finger and how the man was literally crying at his loss. The man that stopped me and the couple that lost the ring had spent the last three days hanging in the same spot on the beach and had become friends. After the ring was lost the couple had to return to Cleveland and I can only assume that they chalked it up as a loss as they left the beach, likely never to see the ring again. I asked the man that stopped me where the man was standing when he lost the ring. He proceeded to tell me how the tide was all the way high and the man was only in knee deep water when someone in the water with him lost their balance and the man grabbed at them to catch them when the ring came off. They spent the next few hours in tears searching the area hoping to catch a glimpse of the diamond shimmering in the water but as we all know too well it likely sank right there and then was dragged down the embankment as the tide retreated. He stood where the man had been standing and pointed down saying "He was right here." The entire area was now dry as the tide was out so with visions of finding the ring and contacting Cleveland news crews to help me find the owner I started a grid search. For the rest of the day I searched. I searched until my hips and back could no longer take it and I headed home resolved to return the next day to continue the search.
Day two started early as I continued my grid search. After a couple hours of hunting I decided to take a break and made my way up to the parking lot to my jeep. In the parking lot is a man wearing a huge silver cross and a huge Star of David on silver chains around his neck approached me and asked if I'd found anything. He said his metal detector was in the car and he was deciding if he should check this beach for lost items. My mind starts to think "It would be so awesome if two people were looking instead of just one." So I asked the man if he was an honest man. With a smile he says "Yes ma'am" and taps his cross. I grinned and said "If I tell you about the location of a lost ring would you help me find it so that I can get it back to it's rightful owner?" I tell him how the man had lost it and how upset he was. He seems very concerned and agrees to help look for it. So being the trusting person I am, I show him where the location was and where the man was standing when he lost it. I go on to tell him where the tide was and he starts doing a grid search as I go back up to my jeep to get a refill of water. Now you have to picture a recently nourished beach with massive sand on it and a large 4 foot wall cut into the sand wall where the tide had reclaimed some of the beach. The man was standing no more than 15 feet from the cliff in about knee deep water. When the tide is out there is a gradual incline toward the cliff and then an evening off at the point of the low tide line about 50 feet away from the cliff. It's not really that big of an area to search and I was sure we'd find it once the grid search was done. I'd dragged my shovel along the cliff area back and fourth leaving long lines that showed where I'd detected. The man started where I left off as I went back to my jeep but when I returned I notice he'd moved down to the bottom of the incline and had dug about 6 holes. No more than 10 minutes had passed when I returned and he approached me and told me his wife had called and that he was sorry but he had to leave. I then spent the rest of the day and the entire day today searching the area without finding the ring. I'd done three grid searches over the area in different directions and then spread out from there making my search area even wider but that familiar 'beep we so love to hear only found me a tungsten carbide ring. Which was an awesome find by the way! But I digress...
The devil will mess with your head and make you think things to try to get you upset. That's his job. I started thinking 'What if that man found the ring and didn't tell me and I found myself getting bitter. But I quickly cast down those thoughts. I will not give Satan the pleasure. I don't know if that man found the ring or not but I will continue the hunt from time to time in that area when the tide gets particularly low. Perhaps it was dragged out further than I can get to with the DFX. I know the man that lost the ring doesn't know that I exist. He doesn't know that I spent three days trying to find his ring. He'll never know that someone cared but I pray that God sends comfort to that man for his loss.
I do hope the ring is still out there... waiting to be... caught. (and returned to its rightful owner)
Day two started early as I continued my grid search. After a couple hours of hunting I decided to take a break and made my way up to the parking lot to my jeep. In the parking lot is a man wearing a huge silver cross and a huge Star of David on silver chains around his neck approached me and asked if I'd found anything. He said his metal detector was in the car and he was deciding if he should check this beach for lost items. My mind starts to think "It would be so awesome if two people were looking instead of just one." So I asked the man if he was an honest man. With a smile he says "Yes ma'am" and taps his cross. I grinned and said "If I tell you about the location of a lost ring would you help me find it so that I can get it back to it's rightful owner?" I tell him how the man had lost it and how upset he was. He seems very concerned and agrees to help look for it. So being the trusting person I am, I show him where the location was and where the man was standing when he lost it. I go on to tell him where the tide was and he starts doing a grid search as I go back up to my jeep to get a refill of water. Now you have to picture a recently nourished beach with massive sand on it and a large 4 foot wall cut into the sand wall where the tide had reclaimed some of the beach. The man was standing no more than 15 feet from the cliff in about knee deep water. When the tide is out there is a gradual incline toward the cliff and then an evening off at the point of the low tide line about 50 feet away from the cliff. It's not really that big of an area to search and I was sure we'd find it once the grid search was done. I'd dragged my shovel along the cliff area back and fourth leaving long lines that showed where I'd detected. The man started where I left off as I went back to my jeep but when I returned I notice he'd moved down to the bottom of the incline and had dug about 6 holes. No more than 10 minutes had passed when I returned and he approached me and told me his wife had called and that he was sorry but he had to leave. I then spent the rest of the day and the entire day today searching the area without finding the ring. I'd done three grid searches over the area in different directions and then spread out from there making my search area even wider but that familiar 'beep we so love to hear only found me a tungsten carbide ring. Which was an awesome find by the way! But I digress...
The devil will mess with your head and make you think things to try to get you upset. That's his job. I started thinking 'What if that man found the ring and didn't tell me and I found myself getting bitter. But I quickly cast down those thoughts. I will not give Satan the pleasure. I don't know if that man found the ring or not but I will continue the hunt from time to time in that area when the tide gets particularly low. Perhaps it was dragged out further than I can get to with the DFX. I know the man that lost the ring doesn't know that I exist. He doesn't know that I spent three days trying to find his ring. He'll never know that someone cared but I pray that God sends comfort to that man for his loss.
I do hope the ring is still out there... waiting to be... caught. (and returned to its rightful owner)
