Gut wrenching

I lost my wedding ring today.

When I was working on a project in the garage this morning and got up to brush myself off, my wedding ring flew off my finger. That should have been my first hint that my ring was having trouble staying on. I picked it up and put it back on.

Later that day I took baby Chewie to a school playground where we played on the grass, the swings and the slide.

A few minutes after I got home, I noticed that my ring was gone. I didn't quite freak out yet.

I remembered that I had it before we went to the park, so it could be one of two places: Our house, or worse, the park.

First I checked my pockets. Then my jewelry dish. Then I checked the bathroom counter, followed by every other counter in our house and then some. I was starting to panic.

I had done the dishes earlier, maybe it slipped off and fell in the sink. I stuck my hand down the in-sink-erator. No ring.

I had changed a dirty diaper. I pulled it out of the garbage. It didn't matter, I had to see if it had somehow gotten in there. Nope. No ring in the poop. By this time Chewie had undone a whole roll of toilet paper and was eating it for dinner.

I called Alec. By this time I was in full on panic mode. How could I have lost my wedding ring? People keep those all their life! This wasn't like I had misplaced it and it was going to show up someday. It was full on lost.

I was trying to tell myself that it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't the end of the world. My marriage would go on without that ring. But guys, I was so so sad. I lost a diamond! I figured my ring was gone forever.

I was about to dump out the garbage and search through it when I decided I might as well try and retrace my steps. I put Chewie in the stroller and made my way back to the playground. I was walking very slow and searching the ground with every step I took. Everything I saw made me more and more hopeless. The insane ivy under our front steps, the gutter drain, all of that grass I has walked across. Wedding ring graves! It could be anywhere!

I finally made it to the school and was greeted by a nice woman named Marci who asked me if I was there to pick up my child. I guess there is a camp at the school this week and it was just letting out. I told her I was looking for my lost wedding ring. She felt sick for me and told me that she would help me look. I was just explaining to her where we had been hanging around earlier when we got to the swings and she said, "Oh, look! There it is!" Marci had found it in the wood chips under the swings. A huge wave of relief rushed over me. I hugged the stranger/my new best friend Marci. Twice.

Of all the land Chewie and I covered, of all the grass and wood chips, and Marci found my ring almost instantly. It was a miracle.

The people of Eugene score another point!

I hope to pay it forward.