Due to the early closing schedules of magazines, I’m actually writing this issue’s letter having just returned from my one-week summer vacation. My husband, Eric, and I, along with our 9-month-old son, Nolen, rented a house in the Indian Cove neighborhood of Guilford, Conn. It was a fantastic week spent watching the tide roll in and out, watching the sun rise and fall (the baby gets us up early!), strolling to the little neighborhood beach, and grilling every night.
On the second day at the beach, I was introducing Nolen to the gentle Long Island Sound waters when my wedding band suddenly slipped off my finger and into the water. I cried out for Eric’s help in looking for it, inadvertently announcing to the small group on the beach what had happened.
A lovely lady named Sandy Smith, along with her two daughters, ran up to help and we all looked for what seemed like forever, to no avail. Sandy offered to send out an email to the neighborhood association to see if anyone had a metal detector and to ask everyone to keep an eye out for the ring.
Jaded Brooklynite that I am, I immediately thought to myself, No one has a metal detector, no one is going to interrupt his or her beach day, and the ring is lost forever. To my surprise, the story of the ring started to spread, and before long, a guy named Derek (everyone in the little neighborhood goes by first names) called to say that he was out of town, but Matt would go into his house to get his metal detector. Matt then called to say he’d meet us at low tide that Sunday to start looking.
As Eric, Nolen, and I were about a block from the beach on our way to meet Matt, we suddenly heard a woman yell, “I found it!” We ran the rest of the way to find Sandy standing on the beach, holding the ring! She had just seen Matt and walked him over to the area and told him that “it should be somewhere around here.” She’d spotted the ring lying on the sand. Needless to say, there were hugs all around.
I love this story for so many reasons. It’s a great feel-good story of people stepping in to help and be good neighbors. It’s a great testament to the importance of a simple gold band when it represents marriage and commitment. It’s a great reflection on the emotional aspect of wedding jewelry (would it have been the same for an Apple Watch?). And, in a subtle way, it’s a great anecdote about the acceptance of diversity in a small neighborhood in a small beach town, in a great big country.
Many, many thanks to Sandy and the entire gang in Indian Cove for their help! Enjoy this terrific issue of JCK. I’ll look forward to seeing many of you this month at GIA’s Career Fair in Carlsbad, Calif., the 24 Karat Club of Southern California’s dinner dance in Los Angeles, the JIS and LUXURY Miami shows, and Stuller’s Bridge event in Lafayette, La. Whew!
Eric, curious Nolen, and me with Sandy, who saved the day when she spotted my ring in the sand
(Smelzer photograph by Michael Falco)