The Class Ring

I love stories with a happy ending - especially if the story spans fifty years! In 1959, Juan Gonzalez lost his class ring while swimming on vacation in the Caribbeans with his family. The ring meant a lot to him and he was very sad to lose it. He thought it was lost forever. Fifty years later, in 2009, a FedEx pilot named Bill Dobbretz had a layover in Puerto Rico. A hobby treasure hunter, Dobbretz took a metal detector and began to search the beach and water. The detector beeped a discovery, and Dobbretz found a class ring! Bill Dobbretz examined his discovery and found Juan's name engraved in the ring and contacted the school's alumni office. Two days later - fifty years after he lost his class ring - Juan Gonzalez received a FedEx package at his home. Unbelievably, Juan had his class ring back, after all these years. Juan's wife of sixty-two years, Carmen, was also amazed at the return of the ring. After all, she said, the ring spent fifty years under water with five hurricanes going through Puerto Rico! Last night, Juan Gonzalez was back at his alma mater, as the guest speaker at the dinner honouring this year's graduating class and the night when they each received their 2012 class ring. He had a very poignant and amazing story to tell them about his own fifty-two year old ring. Stories that end well, even if it takes a lifetime . . . it's a good thing!