Dont think Ive posted this one here yet. But this has been my greatest find for 2014 so far.
Jmann69
IN REMEMBRANCE OF A FRIEND I NEVER KNEW
On Sunday, January 12th 2014 I set out to hunt an area I have not hit before. It is a
local High School not too far from my house. I started out on the band practice field
which is also used as a soccer field, goals at both ends. I've had lots of luck on the
local soccer fields here in Richmond Texas. I arrived at the spot around 6:30 am,
geared up and started in the middle of the field. Normally I will walk back and forth
walking a close pattern to my previous footsteps. This day I walked a zig-zag pattern,
not sure why. First signal I got was a solid 48, I dug it up at about 3” and there it was.
A 1969 Class ring from the high school I attended, John Foster Dulles High School
with the initials R.G.V. engraved on the inside. It was also the year I was born, so that
was cool too.
After 1 day of surfing the Web for the owner of this ring, I came up with what I
believed was his name. There was only one person in the graduating class of 69 with
the initials RV, Robert V. So it had to be him. We googled his name and came up with
one hit and it was not too far from me. It gave me 3 phone numbers and two
addresses. Tuesday night I called all three numbers and they had been disconnected.
So Wednesday I stopped by the first address after work and knocked on the door. A
gentleman answered and I told him who I was and what I found. He told me he is the
brother of Robert. He said that Roberts’s son lives across the street and we should go
see him. So I met Roberts’s son Richard and he was amazed that I had found it. I
didn't have it with me but I showed him the pictures of it. He asked me "You’re just
going to give it back, you don’t want any money or anything?" I told him "No way,
this is his not mine" I’m just glad I was able to locate him. He told me that his dad and
him have lunch on Saturday's every few weeks and said he would like for me to meet
them on Saturday for lunch. He was going to tell his dad that they are going to meet
someone for lunch that has something for him. Inside the ring it said Zales, so I
thought presenting it to him in a Zales box would be neat.
So on Friday night after work I stopped at Zales, showed them the ring and told them
my story (not knowing the whole story at that time). They were more than happy to
give me a Zales box free of charge.
Richard called me around noon on Saturday so I headed up to Starbucks. We had a
great long talk, they are really nice people. Richard told me that 10 minutes after I left
his house on Wednesday, he went to his dads to set up lunch for Saturday and his Dad
was on the phone with his sister and she was telling him that she had heard someone
found his class ring. So much for the surprise! Small town, things spread quickly
around here. I asked him how he thought his ring ended up where it did. He told me
that his first son Anthony use to wear his class ring when he was a freshman at the
high school I found it at. He told me that he remembers a day when his son came
home from school and said "Dad this girl was chasing me today and I had to hide
under the building". He laughed and said that he didn't know what he meant by hiding
under the building. Well back in my day we use to have what we called T-shacks,
temporary buildings. So at some point where the band practice field is now, there used
to be these T-shacks. So that might explain how the ring got there. That was 24 years
ago. I'm so amazed that it was in such good shape for being in the dirt that long.
As the meeting went on, Richard told me that there is something he had not told me
earlier when we first met. Anthony passed away in 2009. His father told me that
during high school he learned Mandarin Chinese and became an English teacher in
Beijing, China. He said that they did not pay much but it did included room and
board. There was a fire in the building and it filled with smoke and consumed the area
in which he was sleeping and he passed away from smoke inhalation. To say the least,
I was at a loss for words for a brief moment but held my composure. Robert said when
heard of the ring being found, he told his wife “Now I can be buried with my ring
when I pass”. Robert asked me what he could do for me and I told him I would love to
have a picture with him, so we did. End of story, right?
Not really, the next morning I woke up around 5:30 am and decided to go back to
where I found the ring. It was a very foggy morning, so thick I could barely see two
blocks in front of the truck. When I made it to the school it was about 7am, the sun
was up and I was ready to hit this virgin ground (minus the class ring) and find me
some goodies. Sitting in my truck facing the field, I could see the field but not all the
way across it. It was still pretty foggy. So I geared up and walk in the center of the
field at the spot where I found the ring. I stopped and did a 360 and it was clear for
like 15/20 yards around me then nothing but fog all around. It was really strange but
cool at the same time. Before I turned my ATP on, I said a little prayer for Anthony
and then just suddenly started talking as if he was there. I said “Hey Anthony, I just
wanted to thank you for making me a part of getting your dads ring back to him. It
really means allot for me to be a part of it. Then I said jokingly, Dude you were
running from a girl? I laughed for a minute and told him no, really, thank you.
Then I said okay Anthony, it’s my turn now and I fired up my AT Pro and started
swinging. About 15 yards away I got a hit, it was a solid 49, so I started to dig. About
2" down up popped a gold piece. Now if it would have been a gold ring or necklace I
would have gave an air high five and said thanks bud. But what popped out was a
solid gold medallion with the Virgin Mary on it.
This was so symbolic I was hit with a wave of emotion. I planned on hitting a few
spots that day but I just felt done after that. I stopped by Richards’s house to tell him
what I had just experienced and he told me that he really believes his brother was
working through me to get the ring back to his dad. I had a jeweler straighten out the
medallion for about $15. I consider this a gift from Anthony for getting his dads ring
back to him. I will keep this forever.
I would like to dedicate this experience to my friend I never knew.
Robert "Anthony" Vela
June 9, 1973 - April 25, 2009
this past June and he was with me when I found it.
, in a country which is my second home and that it is a very nice coin. 
I consider my best finds as fur trade relics from the late 1700's. Particularly the rings and silver broaches.
