Jon CryerVerified account

I panicked. I looked around trying to see if something was glinting on the pavement. But it was raining and there were only a few lamp post with working lights. So nothing. I pulled out my phone and turned on my flashlight. Not much, but worth a try.

Rain keeps coming down. It’s hard to tell which direction the ring might have bounced. The sea wall is only 3 feet away, but it’s on the right. Is it possible it fell in the water? No way to check at night. In the rain. Still scouring the pavement. Getting a little choked up.

My wife and I have been married for since 2007 and it’s hard to be away form each other. With quarantine in effect I can’t travel back and forth to see her while I’m shooting. Which sucks spectacularly. Losing my ring is making the pain more acute.

I redouble my efforts and attempt a soggy, half-assed grid search. In the dark it’s really difficult to judge distance and where you’ve been. There’s also a strip of grass along the path. Could it have possibly rolled that far? I’m drenched now. And late to meet my friends.

I give up. I’m despondent. I figure I’ll come back at sun up. Hopefully the rain will be done.

Next morning I’m there at sunrise with the joggers. It is again difficult to place exactly where the ring fell off. I can’t remember which lamppost I was close to. The pavement is pretty clean (thankfully) but there are a lot of crevices along the sea wall.

I check out the grass strip. Puddles a couple of inches deep all over. I see something glinting in one of them. Could it be?

Nope. It’s a pair of glasses. I trudge home and list it on Craigslist in the lost and found section. I list my ring as well. But a link pops up: @TheRingFinders It’s a network of folks who specialize in finding lost rings. I email.

I’m contacted by Chris. He tells me it could be very tough. When you’re dealing with a paved walkway that is well traveled its likely somebody already found it. But he can come out the next day with his metal detector.

Next day we meet up and he’s already been to location to check it out. He is not optimistic. Says this will probably be a “closure search”. In other words, a search that will likely be fruitless, but will at least allow me to know that I’ve tried everything.

We survey the pavement and there’s still no sign. He casually mentions that he’d be happy to come back at low tide with a wetsuit to check out the water. It’s a remarkable offer, but I’d hate for him to have to go to that length when it just seems so unlikely.

He checks the grass strip with the metal detector while Inspect the cracks in the sea wall. We expand the search area a bit while I yammer on. He pulls out his phone and says “Hey wait, can I ask you a question?”

I come over. “Sure, what?” He leans down and grips a wad of grass from the ground. As he pulls a few stray blades from the clump he asks: “Is this what your ring looks like?” He wipes the clump, revealing a glint of silver.

I’m stunned. Chris’ face lights up. He’s taking video of the reveal. He loves this shit. I stammer out “Are you serious?!?” I look closer:

He says that @TheRingFinders are all over and they really love doing this for a living because it just makes people so happy. And he’s not wrong.

Coda: The ring was found in the grass strip about 3 yards from where I found the glasses.