Lost Ring on 4th of July! – FOUND!!!
Imagine that you are getting married in two weeks. Imagine that your fiancé proposed to you with a beautiful diamond ring. Now imagine that you have come down to Fort Walton Beach to celebrate with friends before the wedding and you dropped the ring in the Gulf of Mexico. That is definitely a problem! 😳. To make matters worse, this is no ordinary ring and as Hillary and her friends explained it to me, I knew I had to help. This ring had an amazing story because the main diamond actually came from the Grandmother of Hillary’s fiancé. It had been with their family when they fled Germany all the way back before the Holocaust. They had come over and became part of a small German settlement in Mississippi called Gluckstadt. To build a life and pass down your ring to your Grandchildren so they could start a new life with their loved one is a true American dream. Was I going to let this American story end today??? On the 4th of July??? Not if I could help it! Hillary and I came up with a plan and I agreed to meet her at sunrise to get past the Holiday traffic and all of the people in the gulf. When I got there I saw that the waves were pretty big and they were crashing into the sand right where Hillary felt like she lost the ring. I headed out and immediately got knocked back so hard that I took the sunglasses around my neck back to the beach. I came back out and made it a little way before I again got slammed and my headphones went flying off of my head. As I chased the ear cups I walked back to the beach. Hillary had gone back to the room so I asked her two friends how tall Hillary is. They said she is 5’2”, I smiled and said “guys, I’m almost 6’3” and I weigh 220lbs, there’s no way she could have been walking around out there if the waves were similar in the days before.” They quickly said that Hillary was nervous I might miss it and was erring on the safe side. They both felt like she had lost it closer in. I explained that I would start shallow and move out but I promised I would go as far as needed to find it. I took a few passes as people started to come out to the beach and I got to the area where they had pointed. I got a high tone and battled to scoop it in the surf. I dig every signal on a return so unfortunately this turned out to be a dime but I only went about five feet further when I heard the tone I wanted. Again it was a battle but I was able to gingerly lift the scoop and let the water and sand rush out of it. Staring back at me was a beautiful diamond ring and I was absolutely thrilled. I started walking in with a big smile on my face and they gradually realized that I had it. Hillary was in disbelief until she got it back on her finger and even then she still couldn’t quite believe I had found it. I am so glad that I could help keep this amazing American story going and even add a new chapter that their family will remember. Congratulations Hillary and Happy Independence Day everyone.
‘MERICA!!! 😉🎇🇺🇸
I received a text from Dan, saying he had lost his wedding band. He and his wife, Emily, were visiting from their home in Missouri, vacationing at a private home on the shore of Lake Michigan. Spending the beautiful day on the sand beach with lots of family and friends, Dan noticed his ring was missing shortly after they had played some catch. He pointed out two areas where he suggested I start: right next to the water, and an area right in front of the whole group of family and friends who were sitting on the beach, watching, not wanting to get in the way of the search. Checking the area next to the water produced only a rusty can lid, but on the third sweep of the area in front of the group I got a good solid hit. Bingo! There it was in my first scoop. Whoops and hollers and high fives from the group watching, and Dan and Emily’s 11 year marriage was back on track. Saving good memories of the 2022 vacation in Michigan!!
