“Did I mess up by finding my late husband’s wedding ring?”
This happened last weekend, but I have to go back 13 months for the whole story.My husband passed several years ago. I would wear his wedding ring on a cord around my neck. I pretty much never took it off. In December I went to the mall and took it off while trying on dresses.Later that day at home I noticed the necklace was missing. I searched my house, car, closet, etc., and couldn’t find it. I came to the conclusion that I either left it in the changing stall at the mall, or it fell off during the day sometime between leaving the mall and going to the gym before going home.I went to the gym, I went to the mall, I asked around, searched lost and found, asked employees, and found nothing. To say I was upset would have been an understatement. I was extremely sad and feeling horrifically guilty that I was so careless with something so precious.
I made a post on my local Facebook Group and another on a local subreddit. A local TV reporter reached out to me and we filmed a small segment for the news in hopes that the ring would be found. The reporter even went back to the mall and checked several pawn shops in the area for me.Time passed, and I accepted that the ring was gone forever. This was extra upsetting to me, as I had lost a fair amount of weight and so my wedding ring no longer fit me, and I had to stop wearing it for fear of losing it as well.Last weekend would have been our 11th wedding anniversary. I thought about my ring and realized after 13 months there was no way it was getting returned. If it was found when I lost it, the person had clearly decided to keep it, and if it was found now, no one would know who it belonged to or how to return it. I was… not doing well.
The next day, I actually backed into a parked car in the morning, like a moron, and was already having a pretty crap-a%$ day. My birthday was the next day (it’s two days after our anniversary), and ever since I surpassed the age my husband passed at, I really hate it and don’t celebrate. So, between our anniversary, the car accident, and my impending birthday, I was NOT in a good place last Saturday.
Anyway, I finished up with the car insurance and headed home. When I got home, my cat was pestering me to play with him. I have a walk-in closet, but I don’t use the whole thing because it’s just me now, so I made half of it a play space for my cats. I go into the closet and am playing with my kitty when he chases something into my clothes. A dress kind of pops out, and out of it falls MY HUSBAND’S WEDDING RING!
I lost my mind. I started shaking and screaming, “OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!” My brother, who lives with me, heard me and thought something bad had happened. He found me shaking and screaming and wasn’t sure if I needed a hug or help or what, lol.When I finally calmed down, I explained that I found the ring. Then I called my kids and told them, and instantly my day got better. Best anniversary/birthday gift I could have gotten, honestly.
I’m still confused by how I missed it and how it was found so easily now. When it first went missing, I TORE my closet apart. Took everything off the racks, shook all the dresses like a mad woman. In fact, I did this multiple times, like every weekend for a while. I don’t understand how I never found the ring in that dress!
I haven’t worn the dress (I lost a lot of weight and bought several dresses in a spree that I’ve had no occasion to wear them to), but I’ve definitely taken it off the rack and at least shaken it and looked inside it before. I’m so confused, but grateful!
But here’s the thing… I had the whole city looking for this ring at one point… and it was in my house the whole time. I WENT ON THE DANG NEWS! I’m so embarrassed! I can’t tell anyone outside of my family that I found it because… it was never lost, I’m just a moron!
So, I’m sharing my f^$%-up here. The ring was never gone, I circled the wagons for no reason, I’m sorry!
Here’s what people had to say to OP:
plumprabbitjockey
I’m not really into divine intervention, but this almost seems like your husband/the universe sending you a hallmark card. Glad you found the ring!
sedexyn
Exactly. The cat was the universe’s delivery system. “Your husband says stop being sad and also here’s your damn ring”
Whole_Note2471
Your cat deserves a medal. Absolute legend move to finally find it.
ArticulateRhinoceros OP:
He definitely knows he did something good and was very proud of himself. He was aggressively affectionate and extra demanding of attention the rest of the night, which he rightfully got!
Snoopy_Dancer
Firstly, glad you found your ring on such a crap day. I am sure that it is a big comfort for you.
Second, I think you should remember that just because you’re loved partner is gone, that you should not stop living and loving life. You should celebrate your birthday, because you are worth celebrating. If your husband was here, he’d want you to celebrate and be happy.
ArticulateRhinoceros OP:
Hi, thank you for your caring comment. I’m okay. I actually ran a 10k race on my birthday to celebrate. I just don’t like having a big to-do. My husband passed away young, and was older than me, so each year I get older than he will ever be is… hard to reconcile. There’s so much he will never experience. But thank you again for the kind words.
NightShadow12
This is one of my biggest fears. I’m so sorry you went/are going through this. 🙁
ArticulateRhinoceros OP:
Thank you. The worst part is, part of me always knew this would happen. I had no way of knowing it, but, we were just so happy I felt like the universe wouldn’t let it last. I used to wake up in the middle of the night and check to make sure he was breathing. I have no idea why, I just had this fear that something would happen to him.
He would sometimes wake up too, and laugh, and say, “I’m fine, sweetie, relax.” He didn’t pass in his sleep; he had terminal cancer, and when the end was close, we knew, so it’s not like I was being entirely prophetic. I just always had this nagging sense of dread. Now, when I wake up in the middle of the night, he’s not there at all.
BellLife6057
Great to hear that you’ve found the ring OP! Weird question, but was your husband a prankster? Like did he like to play tricks on you?
ArticulateRhinoceros OP:
OMG yes, actually, he did! We had this one game where he would hide a (rather silly) cat statue that I had gotten as a teenager at the edgy “magic” store at the mall. We used to take turns putting it in strange spots for the other to discover.
It eventually graduated to use using images of the statute as well (so like at one point I mailed a photo of it to his work, and he made stickers of it and stuck it in random places, etc). He also used to hide love notes around the house for me, I have a little collection of them still.
Later OP added this edit:
Wow, not to be cliché, but this really blew up! I wasn’t expecting that! Thank you everyone for being so supportive and caring. I’m doing okay, I just have bad days still. I’m generally pretty active and have a full life. While I don’t like to have a party on my birthday, I did celebrate this year by running my first ever 10k race, and it went really well!
Also, obligatory cat tax: Here’s the little miracle worker
