Three rings of serendipity
From the sandy shores of Savary
By Lyle Jeakins
I'll begin by saying that this is a true story, the type of which fits into the category of "truth is stranger than fiction," or, "you just can't make this stuff up."
I am employed as a deck hand for Hurford Marine, on a tug and barge show which services the Lund area. Towing vehicles and equipment to and from Savary Island is a major part of the business. One day this past November Dave Hurford and I towed the propane truck over to Savary. Because it has to taxi down the island, unload, and return to the barge, we have a layover of about an hour until the big yellow truck reappears.
I decided to walk along the shoreline and beach comb, which I enjoy when the weather cooperates. I wandered along for a ways until reaching the Savary Island Lodge, a heritage log house and bed and breakfast operated by Jeanne Yuille, just a couple of hundred yards east of the Savary dock. I noticed an old winch on Jeanne's lawn that I wanted to check out so I stepped off the beach and on to her grassed area above the tide line.
There wasn't much left of the old winch, which I guessed was used to haul boats up off the beach for over wintering, probably going back a couple of generations. As I walked back towards the shore, my eye caught sight of something small and circular. I bent over and picked up a ring, shiny and silver. I thought it was odd looking, smooth on the bottom and crowned at the top. I tried it on. Too small, even for my pinkie. I looked inside and saw the number 18 and the letter K. So I reckoned the ring was 18-karat white gold and was worth something. Upon further inspection I noticed the outside of the ring was filled with ornate diamonds. I was quite certain that whoever had lost it probably had been staying at the lodge. Jeanne wasn't there so I left it on her front table and decided to phone her when I got back home. Soon thereafter the propane truck arrived and off we sailed back to Lund.
I talked to Jeanne later that afternoon. She explained to me that a couple had vacationed there in August, and the wife had misplaced her wedding ring. Jeanne said they were distraught, almost inconsolable over the loss. I knew by the tone of Jeanne's voice I had found something special. She mentioned that she'd contact the owners and tell them the story.
About three weeks later Jeanne gave me another call. She told me the couple's names were Jessica and Gabe and they were extremely grateful. She also told me that there were two more rings missing, and they all fit together, like a jigsaw puzzle. Well that got me thinking.
After we discharged the next propane truck on Savary I quickly made my way to the old lodge. I searched the area but came up empty handed. "Like the proverbial needle in the haystack," I said to myself. Soon after that Dave showed up, walking his dog. We both had a look. A moment later my search turned up the second ring. There it was, all gold and inlaid with tiny diamonds. Then Jeanne arrived from her house saying, "What are you looking for, buried treasure?"
I said, "Well, yes and I've found some more!"
Jeanne said something like, "Oh my God," and was beside herself. There were tears. Now all three of us continued the search for the final piece of the puzzle. Back and forth we scanned the area. I shouted, "There it is!" Sure enough, the missing ring had been found in its entirety. We all marvelled at the circumstance. It was uplifting, to say the least.
Soon after, Jeanne phoned to tell me of a plan she had concocted to add a little drama to the story. She would tell Jessica and Gabe that we found only two rings, not three, and all parties would meet up at Jeanne's daughter's on Christmas Eve and Jeanne and I would present them with the missing ring. We were all visiting relatives in the lower mainland over Christmas, so it wasn't a stretch.
I arrived at Jeanne's daughter's on the morning of Christmas Eve and sipped a coffee. Soon after, Jessica and Gabe showed up, giddy with excitement. I explained the story and history behind it, and presented Jessica with her white gold ring. There were some tears, and hugs. Gabe and Jessica thought that was the end of it. Then Jeanne got up with a small wooden container. She said, "Now, the next time you go for a midnight swim in the ocean, you put your rings in this box, and you'll never lose them."
She presented Jessica with the ornate box. Jessica opened it to find the missing gold wedding band. Everyone cried, just a little, and then Gabe fell off the couch as he mixed laughter with tears of joy. It was a wonderful moment and experience I'm not likely to forget.
