It’s been four years to the day since her husband passed away in 2012, but on Tuesday Brenda Shiels is grateful a symbol of her marriage has been returned.
On Sept. 10, Shiels lost her husband’s wedding ring while she was at the annual Honey, Garlic and Maple Syrup Festival in Manitou, Man. She had been wearing the ring every day since her husband’s passing. She said she didn’t realise it was gone until she was back home in Killarney, Man.
“My husband has been gone four years,” Shiels said. “I was very sad when I lost it because it was symbolic of our love.”
Desperate to find it, she emailed the committee that put on the festival asking if they found it during the cleanup. She also put out an ad in the local newspaper.
Laura Greenfield, who is on the committee, read the email and decided to take to social media to see if anyone found the wedding ring.
“… There was a man’s wedding band lost and I am hoping that if everyone shares this, perhaps someone has picked it up and this will lead them to the hurting owner. If anyone has any information please private message me and I will get you in contact with the empty finger,” read the Facebook post.
Boy finds ring
On Sept. 17, Greenfield received a message from someone saying, “I think I may have the ring you are looking for.”
Melissa McKay, also from Manitou, said her six-year-old son, Christian may have found it. After Greenfield looked at a picture of the ring, she determined it could be a match.
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“I phoned Brenda. But I was afraid to call just in case it was not the ring,” Greenfield said. “I told her who I was and asked if I could send her a picture of the wedding band.”
Greenfield texted her the picture. In less than a minute Shiels phoned back and yelled, “It’s the ring!”
Shiels said she was “flabbergasted” someone found the ring. “The people in Manitou worked hard to help me find it.”
Reunited with wedding ring
On Tuesday, Christian met Shiels for the first time and reunited her with the 47-year-old wedding band.
“He put the ring right on my finger and smiled,” Shiels said.
Shiels lives more than an hour-and-a-half outside of town, so Greenfield said they offered to meet her halfway with the ring. But Shiels insisted on meeting Christian in person to thank him.
“Since my husband passed away it’s been my saddest day,” she said. “But today, well today is a happy day now because I got my ring back.”
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