By Joan Wilson

As child, many, many years ago, I was playing in the sandy dirt in the back garden, just outside our family’s kitchen. I really don’t remember too much about it but, according to my Mother, I found a ring – just a gold ring without its stone, and I gave it to her. Imagine, I had enough sense to give it to my Mother for safe keeping, not knowing the value of it.

.Fast-forward some forty odd years.

I’m a grown woman, mother of three children, returning home from living in England. The first gift I received from my Mother was this little gold ring without a stone. “Here Ann, (my Mother always called me Ann) this ring is yours. You found whilst you were making mud pies when you were just about 5 years old.”

Well you can imagine my surprise.

Me – with a gold ring I had found so many years ago. What a treasure. Oh, how proud I felt at that moment. I took the ring and put it in a safe place, I didn’t have any other jewelry – only my wedding band that I wore on a finger.

Through the years of living and working here in Cayman I have had experiences of losing and finding and most of the time it’s jewelry. I remember the first chain I bought was from a work mate. I admired the one she was wearing and she immediately said she had two and would I like to buy one? She then sold me one for $25.00 (a gold chain for $25.00?!!) Wow! That’s 59 years ago to be exact and I still wear it with the ring I found at the age of 5.

Well, being a swimmer, diver, cyclist, etc., I have had moments of losing and finding. I was swimming and diving (always with my jewelry on) shortly after buying the chain. On my return home and whilst in the shower I realized it was missing. Immediately I was out of the shower, dressed, on my bike and down to the beach again. I knew exactly where I had been. diving, and it didn’t take me long to find the spot. In a couple of minutes I was in the water searching and in another minute I spotted my chain and ring, dove it up, put it on and I’m still wearing it today. I was very proud being my first piece of jewelry.

Later on in my growing up days I was diving in Old House Bay and with the force of the dive I lost a silver bracelet that my late sister Madge had given me. I waited until the sun was overhead before going to find it and sure enough the sun reflected on the silver and again I was diving my bracelet up from the deep of the sea.

Fast forward again.

This is a different kind of loss and found story.

I’m a working lady in an office in Town. I’m on my way walking to the Registrar of Companies. I passed hundreds of tourists, locals etc., around talking or just looking. I saw this envelope on the ground right in the middle of a crowd, no one taking any notice of it. I did my work at the Registrar of Companies and was returning through the same route. The crowd was still milling around and the crushed envelope was still on the ground. Of course I picked it up and continued to my office work. On reaching my desk I opened the envelope and would you believe it was full of money – bank notes! Hundreds of them! To cut a story short, I advertised my find and by the end of the day I had dozens of calls claiming they had lost an envelope and hoping it was theirs. It was- about 8.30 that evening when the right person called and told me exactly what was in the envelope. He later came and collected it. (What a find!) He was kind enough to reward me as well.

What a find, what a treasure! And what memories!!

Tomorrow I will publish the poem I wrote about the last incident I described above.