Lost Ring, Lake Geneva, WI
“Daddy! Daddy!” my six-year old blubbered, tears streaking her cheeks as she ran to the car. Throwing the car in park and opening the door, I could see there was indeed a crisis. Was she stung by a wasp? Did she fall and bloody her knee? Perhaps there was a conflict with her older sister over who gets to be next on the tire swing.
As I crouched next to her, hugging her closely, she whispered, “Oh, Daddy… I lost it!”
“What, Honey? What did you lose?” I asked.
She was holding her favorite doll, Sally. Sally… with her blue dress and matted-brown hair, little tattoo lines on her legs and arms from when my daughter was first learning how to hold a pen. I knew Sally wasn’t missing, so what had she misplaced?
“My ring, Daddy. My bunny ring. I lost it in the woods.”
I smiled and nearly laughed out loud. She had lost her ring—her metal ring.
I’ve been metal detecting for nearly three years, and have been part of The Ringfinders network for two of those years. I constantly show my four children all of my “treasures” and often get complaints if I mention bringing my detector on a family outing. You you… just in case. 
“Honey, do you know anyone who might be able to find a missing metal ring?” And I smiled.
Like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza, she lit up from head to toe up with her new realization.
My daddy has a metal detector.
I opened my trunk, took out and turned on my detector in one smooth motion, and walked over to a hammock that hangs on the edge of the woods. Minutes later, her bunny ring was back on her finger and a smile replaced her tears. Dad the superhero; just what every dad longs to be for his daughter.
Although I enjoy helping strangers find lost items, this might be my favorite recovery so far.
This young man recently acquired his high school graduation ring that he was proud to wear. Unfortunately at a gathering of his buddies graduation night he high fived a friend with a bit to much enthusiasm that resulted in the ring flying off his finger, bounced across a wooden deck, onto a wooden dock, and disappeared into about 5 foot of water. Because it was dark the exact path and ultimate location could only be determined by sound. The boys rummaged around on the sandy bottom feeling with their feet with no success. They called me the next day and I started a search early that afternoon. The bottom had quite a bit of trash metal mixed with the sand as you would expect near a boat dock. I’ve a very good totality waterproof detector and carefully, slowly searched the area in a grid pattern, after about an hour searching I located his ring on the edge of a neighbors dock slip. He and a his friend were very excited to get the ring and we exchanged high fives all around… but with a little less enthusiastic force. 😎
