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"A Happy Ending" by Mary Sparks One weekend in late April, Jim Cornwell, Clarence Sparks and I were detecting in Washington Park. Clarence was approached by a woman who asked if we could look for a lost wedding ring. We agreed and followed her to her hillside home near the Hoyt Arboretum and the Rose Test Gardens. Her son was washing his car in the driveway five or six months earlier. When he shook the soapy water off his hands, his wedding ring went flying. He heard it hit the pavement and then bounced over the hillside to an unknown fate. All his efforts to find it had been futile. Jim and Clarence started searching through the plantings and small bushes on the hillside directly below the driveway. There wasn't a lot of space for three detectors to be searching, so I moved beyond the driveway to the somewhat more level flower garden. Within ten to fifteen minutes I got a hit. As soon as I looked at the coil, I could see the edge of a ring peeking through the dirt. I picked it up and shouted to Jim and Clarence that I had found it. I was a good 20-25 feet from where the ring should have been. It must have taken an odd bounce off the pavement when it dropped. The homeowner was surprised that we had found it so quickly. She called her daughter-in-law to confirm the ring's description, since it had not been engraved. She knew her son would be just as thrilled to have his ring back. The young couple had been unable to afford to buy another one yet. The homeowner offered us a cash reward, which we declined. We did accept her offer of a special can of their favorite "Cougar Cheese", made at Washington State University. (We haven't tried it yet, but will report in when we do.) A few weeks later, we received this nice thank you and photo from the homeowner: " Clarence, Mary and Jim, My daughter-in-law will give Kasey the ring you found for their first anniversary on May 21st, and I know he'll be surprised and thrilled. Everyone I tell the story to of your coming to the house for the search said they had renewed faith in the kindness of people! Thank you again for your helpfulness. Candy Krebs"
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