60-Year Heirloom Wedding Ring Lost and Found in Lake Michigan. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Tuesday, August 9, 2023 was a long and hot August day, one that made the refreshing swim in Lake Michigan a most-welcome reprieve for Milwaukee resident, Tanner Vandevelden and his wife. Then the unthinkable happened. Tanner felt his wedding ring slip off his hand into the choppy water. But it wasn’t just any ring. It had been worn by Tanner’s grandfather for 60 years! The thought of it being lost forever made Tanner feel sickened in his stomach. Despite repeated dives and frantic searching of the lake bottom, the ring was nowhere to be seen.

An hour later I received a text message from Tanner asking if I might assist. I knew from experience that time is of the essence for rings lost in Lake Michigan. The lake’s currents and shifting sands quickly bury heavier rings sending them out of detection range for even the most advanced detectors.

As I drove eastward to the Milwaukee shoreline from Waukesha, the setting sun shone a deep blood red in my rearview mirror. It reminded me of the old sailor’s adage, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.” It occurred to me that the following day promised to be another beautiful one. I prayed that Tanner’s sense of foreboding might similarly be turned to delight, that we might find his wedding ring quickly, before the night was done.

It was getting dark when I arrived. By the time we positioned a weighted buoy in the vicinity where Tanner was swimming, nighttime had settled in. Even with the eerie glow of Milwaukee’s city lights, I could barely make out the contents in my scoop.

Several signals invited examination but none proved to be Tanner’s ring. I had just begun to expand the search area when a promising signal announced the presence of another target in my XP Deus 2 headset. I raised a scoop full of seaweed, pebbles, shells and sand. As I felt through the contents with my fingers, a round object proved to be a ring. Was it Tanner’s? Upon returning to the shore and with the help of a cellphone flashlight, the ring indeed was the lost and now found heirloom.

The smile on Tanner’s face, like the earlier sun in my rearview mirror, was evidence that tomorrow would indeed be one of delight. The emotional storm was gone, proving what I have asserted so often, “It’s more than a ring!”