Lost and Found

  When I graduated from high school, my mother gave me a beautiful ring – a ruby set in diamonds. I was thrilled! Not only was it a complete surprise, but I treasured it even more when I learned its history – it was old, and had been given to my mother’s mother by her husband and passed on to my mother when she was born. As I am named for my mom, she chose to pass it down to me. I was ecstatic and took it to college the following fall.  Later that winter, I was invited on a ski weekend with friends – never mind that I couldn’t ski – nor that it snowed so hard on our trip north that we had to make an unplanned stop at a small country inn – nor that I had my ring with me as I didn’t want to leave it in my room at college – (a smarter girl would have found a safe) – but – you guessed it – when I returned to my dorm and unpacked I went into a panic – there was no ring anywhere – not in any pocket, not in my purse; not in my suitcase – everything was turned upside down and inside out to no avail. I called my friends; I phoned the Inn – but – I didn’t dare call my mother. I knew she would be heart broken – as I was – and worse, she would be ashamed of me. A day or so later, I needed to wash my hair and after giving it a good scrub I picked up my brush and comb to give them the same treatment. As I ran the comb thru the bristles of the brush to remove excess hairs out popped my ring!! Ecstasy!! Apparently I had removed the ring and placed it on the bureau; then set my brush down on top of it without noticing. The ring became embedded in the bristles and stayed there for several days even when I used the brush. I can’t recall any time since that I have felt such relief or such joy. It was truly a miracle – and surely a lesson to remember.