FoundInNC
Sr. Member
I must say that today has been quite a devotion for me. I never imagined when I woke up this morning the day would pan out as it did. It all started this morning when I woke up to a friend calling to remind me of an estate sale near my house that had some nice Craftique furniture. I declined because I told him that I had to be at work in a half hour; I had promised the local metal detector sales store, Barbee's Detector Sales that I would cover his store for Saturday. I help Mr. Barbee from time to time when he needs a break. As I was getting ready, I noticed that I was early one hour! I had misread the clock apparently, so I immediately called my friend and told him that I would meet him at the estate sale for one hour. I left the house, and got to the sale and realized that I had forgotten my detector, and after work, I had planned on doing some detecting in Burlington. I swung back by the house and grabbed my AT Gold and headed back to the sale. Upon arriving I saw lots and lots of Craftique furniture, and I have been wanting a piece for some time now. I stayed up until the time I had to go and I told a local antique store owner to please please please put in a bid for me on one of my favorite pieces. She agreed and I went on to work. It started off very slow at the detector store, but eventually it got better. My friend that owns the antique store called to say that I had won the Craftique table I had requested her to bid on! I was very happy! That is when an older gentleman pulled up in an old Crown Vic, and limped up to the door. When he walked in he was like a breath of fresh air. What a positive attitude he had. He initiated the conversation by telling me that he was in the market for a "meter" and that he had lost a ring and really wanted to have it back. He told me about how his wife since 1957 had died seven years ago, and he had spent the last two weeks losing sleep and miserable without the comfort of his ring that he had lost somewhere in his yard. He said that multiple parties had attempted to locate the ring but were unsuccessful. Noticing the feebleness of the old man, who claimed to be 84 years of age, I tried to imagine him swinging a detector. Even if it was a light weight "Deus", I did not see that working out so well. That is when I offered to help him locate the ring. He looked shocked that I would even offer. I explained to him that I have found lots of items in the past and if it was there I would guarantee that I would find it. Tears came to his eyes hearing this glimmer of hope. He had written the ring off as gone forever. We exchanged phone numbers and I told him that I would call him when I got off work. At 4:00, as promised I called him up, and he must have been sitting by the phone because he answered right away. He told me how to get to his house, and I told him I would be there shortly. Upon my arrival the man showed me all the places in the yard that it could be. The only problem was that the entire yard was encompassed in the search area. I got to work. I started at the back door, finding signals, and checking if it was on the surface with my Garrett Pro Pointer. No luck. I went back to his tractor, where he claimed to tie a tarp over and under, and since I have not yet figured out how to detect near large iron with the AT Gold, I got out my Pro Pointer and completely combed the area under the tractor to my satisfaction. After about twenty minutes of looking, the old man was looking a little bummed, and I was starting to feel it too. I took my last stride down the center of the yard and decided to grid the rest after that. In my first grid, I found nothing. The problem with this yard was that it was apparently fill dirt from a burn pile. There was an IMMENSE amount of trash in the soil. It was apparently a lot of chopped cans and melted aluminum, because everything seemed to be a "ring signal." Keep in mind, I had to check EVERY signal with my Pro Pointer. In my second grid I got a HEAVY tone, and I looked down and there was the shimmer of yellow, a gold wedding band! I said, "would you bring me my camera?" and he said "why is that" and I said "because you are going to want to remember this." His face completely flushed white, and he walked over and looked at the ground. The second he saw the ring his face hit the other extreme and he started to bawl, and fell into me, embracing me. It was very moving. It showed how much he had cared for his wife. I made him promise me that he would have the ring re-sized, and he agreed to set up an appointment on Monday. It was then that he told me that this was the third time that he had lost that ring, and he hoped it would never happen again. He said that the next time that ring would come off would be when he met his wife in Heaven. As we said our goodbyes, he told me that he would never forget me. I was glad to be a part of his emotional experience, and I wanted to share it to you guys, Treasurenet friends and Facebook friends.
I tried to get some pictures of us to remember by, but it was kind of hard with just me and him. Thank goodness for delayed image capture on my Droid! Thanks for reading!
Me and Mr. Clarence
Ring In Grass As Found
Close Up Of The Ring As Found
One Happy Old Man
He was not very good with smart phones!
That was a great day for me!
I tried to get some pictures of us to remember by, but it was kind of hard with just me and him. Thank goodness for delayed image capture on my Droid! Thanks for reading!
Me and Mr. Clarence
Ring In Grass As Found
Close Up Of The Ring As Found
One Happy Old Man
He was not very good with smart phones!
That was a great day for me!
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There needs to be more happiness in the world. You made the old man's day.
Breezie
