One in a million! Those were the odds of finding the item I lost on July 9.
There is no way I, my husband or other family members can ever adequately thank Patrick Kennedy, owner of Alternative Recycling System in West Hatfield, for his assistance going well beyond the call of duty for helping us look for that item — a lost diamond from my engagement/wedding ring.
I was devastated! Since given that diamond 53 years ago, only twice, for resizing and resetting purposes, had that ring been off my finger. And now, the centerpiece diamond of the ring was lost.
While sorting through materials for disposal following a utility room cleanup that afternoon, and putting items into the trash bin, my hand apparently had struck the metal edge or cover of the bin and, unknowingly, had broken the prongs that secured the diamond to its setting, causing the diamond to be dislodged from the ring and thrust into the great unknown.
Soon after, while trying to align the diamond ring with the adjoining wedding band, I was startled by a sharp stab from the now empty prongs that previously held the diamond, and became shockingly aware that my diamond had been lost!
Friends within our condominium community helped search the grounds around the trash bin area with no success. It became clear, that the last place that needed to be searched was the inside of the bin. But how? And when? It was scheduled for pickup early Monday morning. There would be no chance of recovering the diamond if the trash bin was lifted, turned upside down, and emptied into the trash collection truck. I placed calls to Alternative Recycling, our community’s trash removal provider, alerting them to the problem and the need to delay the Monday trash pickup, and requested help in clearing out the bin to search for the lost item.
Early Monday morning, I received a call back from Alternative Recycling advising they would cancel the pickup, but they had no one immediately available to help remove items from the fully loaded bin.
Distressed by the personal loss, and feeling unable to resolve the matter by myself, I needed to quickly find another alternative. Having thanked them for canceling the trash pickup, but dismayed that they had no one immediately available to help, I moved on to seek assistance elsewhere.
However, within half an hour, I received a call from Patrick Kennedy, owner of Alternative Recycling, advising that he personally would come to my aid and help with the trash bin clean-out. He followed up, saying that he understood the significance of the loss and the difficulty it presented and believed it important to assist with trying to recover the lost item. Mr. Kennedy was not obligated to handle this matter — as owner of the business, he could easily have assigned one of his employees to handle the task — but, instead, he took it upon himself to help in the time of need.
A short time later, Mr. Kennedy arrived with gloved hands, large plastic bags and ladders. One bag at a time was removed from the dumpster, each quickly examined and transferred into several large bags. When the bottom of the trash bin was visible, a tall ladder provided him access to the interior to closely survey the wet sticky debris at the bottom of the bin. Then, upon a cleared area of its floor, he pointed out a small circular dot he believed to be a diamond.
Both my husband and I looked in. The small dot looked flat, had no sparkle and it didn’t look like a diamond, but more like a piece of plastic. When Mr. Kennedy reached to pick it up, it slipped from his hand a couple of times. Then, as he finally grasped the small dot, he said, “It’s the diamond,” and brought it up and handed it to me. As I stood in a state of disbelief, the diamond, now in my hand, sparkled brightly in the sunlight.
Immediately there were smiles, tears, hugs, a feeling of great relief, and repeated offers of thanks to Mr. Kennedy for his willingness to search for and find the lost item.
No one present could believe that we had actually found the diamond. A small dot found amid piles of trash and debris. One in a million!
Mr. Kennedy, having been in the trash removal/recycling business for many years, and a veteran of a number of similar, but failed searches, admitted that while agreeing to take on this search, he had not been optimistic that the diamond, a tiny dot, would ever be found. Thankfully, he still volunteered to assist with the search.
Selfless acts of kindness deserve acknowledgement. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy, for being there for me in a time of need. I am a very lucky person, not only for having the good fortune to find my diamond, but also for having crossed paths with you.
Theresa L. Boyle lives in Greenfield.