This past May, one bride-to-be hailing from Ware, Massachusetts, did something out of the ordinary — she took off her engagement ring in order to take part in a charity softball game, and stuck it in a friend’s handbag for safekeeping.
According to Holly Kusek, “In the beginning of the game, I put my engagement ring into the bag because it was my glove hand and I didn’t want to put my hand in and somehow lose it.” The game ended after an hour, and Kusek went to get her ring back — except it was no longer in the bag. The field was searched for hours, without any sign of the ring. At that point, the couple began posting to social media in hopes of reconnecting.
Although the diamond engagement ring had, of course, monetary value — it’s worth an estimated $13,000 — the couple’s relationship with the ring went much deeper than that. Although the average groom takes about three months to find the perfect ring, Dan Larzaz’s journey started far before that. Both Larzazs’ and Kusek’s mothers passed away from cancer several years ago. Larzazs, with the permission of Kusek’s father, combined the diamonds from both mothers’ engagement rings along with a new diamond, and crafted an engagement ring that showcased both their past and future.
Multiple Facebook posts about the rings were shared over 3,000 times, as people from around the country tried to help them out, and finally, it connected them to a woman who had been walking her dog along Route 9 in Brookfield when she saw something glittery below her. The woman showed the found ring to her son, who verified its authenticity at a jewelers, and was ultimately the person who contacted Larzazs and Kusek after his wife informed him of the ring’s possible origins, after viewing one of the Facebook posts.
Larzazs had his doubts after receiving the call — it seemed too good to be true, with little explanation of how it traveled so far off the field. But once the jewelry box was opened, he recognized the ring right away. The family who found the ring, who wish to remain anonymous, declined the offered $1,000 reward. “They were so kind, said it was our ring to begin with,” said Larzazs.
