Hopefully Not Three Times!

In 1995, I was attending a conference in Monterey, California, 3000 miles from home. One night, a group of us decided to have a bonfire on the beach. For some reason, I took my ring off and put it in the pocket of my jacket along with my keys.

Later, when I got in my car to leave, I realized my ring was gone and ran back to the spot on the beach. It was a dark night and the fire had been doused, so there was no way to really search for it. I didn’t sleep at all that night, and at first light, I went back to the beach. I scoured the area for about 45 minutes with no luck and was ready to give up. Mostly out of frustration, I kicked the dirt at my feet. Unbelievably, a glint sparked in the sand, and there was my ring!

In the summer of 2008, I again couldn’t find my ring. The only thing I could figure was that it had dropped out of my bat bag at a softball game. I went back to the field several times to kick the dirt in the warm up area and in the dug out with no success. I even checked out a couple of pawn shops over the next few months. In the summer of 2009, I got a new entertainment system. As I was hooking it up, I opened the cabinet to the table my TV was on. I saw something that looked out of place amid the cables and jacks and electronic gadgets. I just stared at it for a second. Then, I realized it was my ring. Apparently, I had been reconnecting the old DVD player in the summer of 2008 and had taken the ring off to work in the tight spot behind the TV.

That’s twice. I hope this doesn’t happen in threes!

— Hugh Gray