A decades-old wedding band found squished in the middle of 0 Avenue, near Peace Arch Park, last week, has been reunited with its owner.
And Jack Girvan says the story is one that effectively spanned more than 40 years.
“I was just absolutely stunned at the process,” Girvan said Monday, a few days after retrieving his ring from Kevin McAlpin.
“It started last Sunday, Monday, and it ran all the way back to 40-odd years ago.”
READ MORE: Owner of 50-year-old wedding band found near Peace Arch Park sought
Girvan – who celebrated his 51st wedding anniversary with his wife, Wilma, in September – lost his ring on Nov. 29 or 30, while out walking his dog.
Likely while Girvan was still searching sundry nooks and crannies of his South Surrey home – including down drain pipes and under couch cushions – McAlpin happened across a mangled piece of metal that he quickly realized was much more than it appeared.
With only a pair of names, a date from many moons ago and an unfamiliar phrase – all carefully inscribed on the inside – to go on, McAlpin set to figuring out who it might belong to. After Facebook searches and inquiring with White Rock’s Ring Finder founder came up empty, he asked Peace Arch News to help put the word out.
“I’m pretty sure it’s important to somebody because it’s from 1969,” he told PAN last Thursday (Dec. 3).
READ MORE: Lost a ring? This White Rock man will find it for you
It didn’t take long for McAlpin’s quest to bear fruit.
Soon after PAN published a story, Girvan’s son Alasdair received a call. A woman who recognized the names in the story – because as a child she had attended the preschool where Wilma worked – noticed a Facebook connection with Alasdair and reached out through a friend.
“The chances of all this coming together are slim to none,” Alasdair said Monday (Dec. 7). “There’s a few key things that had to happen.”
Wilma described the chain of events as “pretty remarkable.” She said she and Jack met in Glasgow in 1967 and their connection “was one of these kind of instant things.” The inscription inside the ring, she noted, is Gaelic for “my soul mate.”
But while the ring was important, Wilma said having her husband matters much more.
“We’re 51 years married. It is just a symbol after all.”
Jack said he’s reshaped the ring and it has, quite literally, come full circle.
“When you think of how far back it stretches, and then comes forward again… how did that happen? It all started with Kevin, which I’m really thankful for.”
tholmes@peacearchnews.com
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