The Ring Finders
Metal Detecting Service Inc.

It was Thanksgiving weekend in 1983, I was 9 years old.  We were sitting at the table and my little sister commented on how yellow my grandfathers eyes were, to my recollection that was the start of it, he went to the Dr. the following Monday and they next Friday We were all told that Gramps had Pancreatic Cancer(this is the Reason why I donate 25% of all my reward money to the American Cancer Society)…the next 6 months were kind of a blur for me.  Gramps was in and out of the Hospital taking Chemo and what not and he lost a lot of weight, drastic amounts.  he was out in the yard working on the Motor home one Saturday and when he came in for lunch he noticed his Masonic ring was gone, he had lost so much weight it just slipped off.  Gramps died 6 weeks later and from the time he lost his ring, myself and my cousins and grandmother spent all our free time looking for his ring so he could be buried with it.  Well needless to say we failed.  Grandma rented a Metal detector for a week back then and no one really knew how to operate it.  from that point on, I remember very clearly, I vowed to myself that one day I was going to be a Treasure Hunter and help People find their lost valuables….fast forward 25 years to October 2009, My Grandparents house goes up for sale “By Owner” I thought “WOW, I would totally love to buy that house”  after all I grew up there.  I called the Owner and got a tour of it and really wanted to buy it, however the owner decided to take it off the market and wait for the housing market to rebound a bit.  I was telling my grandmother about it and she said, “Well sweetie, if you can buy that house, maybe you can find your grandfathers Masonic ring”…then it hit me like a ton of bricks, that was the whole reason I ever got into Metal detecting and treasure hunting.  I called the Home Owner back a couple months later and told her the story and she seemed a bit reluctant, said she would have to think about it….The idea of being so close, yet so far away from a ring that not only my Grandmother would treasure, but myself as well, not just as a grandson finding a grandfathers long lost Masonic ring, but also as now I am a Mason…since the last time I spoke with the home owner my Grandmother has since passed on…How will this story end, will the ring be lost forever?……To be continued