If you lose a tiny possession on a vacation across the world, chances are, it's gone forever. But a New Jersey couple just beat the odds by recovering an engagement ring they lost in Italy nine years prior, USA Today reports.
Justin and Margaret Mussel lost her 1.1 karat, diamond engagement ring while they were on vacation in Italy soon after their wedding. "My wife’s ring was loose, but she didn’t realize it was gone until later," Justin told USA Today. "She took a nap [after], and woke up and realized she didn’t have it on." They couldn't use their insurance to get it replaced because they were out of the country. So Justin saved up for several years to get another ring.
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Fast forward to August 2017, and the couple now has two kids who they took with them back to San Marco dei Cavoti, where Margaret’s parents have a house. While he was lounging on the porch, Justin saw a "flicker of light coming out of a crack in the sidewalk" each time a car passed, he told USA Today. He dug into the crack with a screwdriver to try to figure out what was there.
"When he kept saying he saw something shiny, in my head I said 'he probably thinks that's the ring,' and no way it would be there after nine years," Margaret told ABC.
But sure enough, it was. Justin had dug up the engagement ring nine years after losing it — and it still fit Margaret. "I thought he was crazy," she told USA Today. "I was like, 'There’s no way the ring is in there.' I couldn’t believe it. I thought he was playing a joke."
Now that they've got two rings, one of their kids will save some money if they ever decide to get married. But as for Margaret, she's back to wearing the first ring. It did, after all, wait patiently for her for nine years.