‘Meant to be’: Oregon man reunited with class ring 28 years after losing it in ocean
HILLSBORO, Ore. (InvestigateTV) - Some could call it a string of coincidences or maybe even serendipitous, but for Jeremy Kennedy, he’s calling it fate.
“If it’s lost and comes back, it’s meant to be,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy now lives in Oregon, but he grew up in Santa Cruz, CA, and graduated from Soquel High School in 1997.
Like most graduates in the ‘90s, Kennedy saved up his money to purchase a class ring.
“I got the ring at the beginning of my senior year in 1997. I was going to the Navy, so they gave us our rings beforehand so we could take our high school senior pictures with them,” Kennedy ed.
However, after that photo was taken, he didn’t have the ring for very long.
“I was wearing it and I lost it in March of ‘97 at a beach in Capitola when I went surfing instead of going to school,” Kennedy said with a laugh.
He was leaving for the navy just a few weeks later, so he thought the ring would end up at the bottom of the ocean, never seeing the light of day again.
“It was a huge loss, but then I never thought about it again because it was gone forever,” Kennedy said.
But as fate would have it, Kennedy was reunited with the ring on Thursday, nearly 30 years after losing it.
“I never thought I would see this again”
The jewel was mailed to him by a California woman who happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Lisa Crouch grew up in Capitola, now lives just a few miles away from Rio Del Mar beach, and often heads down to look for sea glass.
“I tend to just like dig through the rocks because that tends to be where you find the best pieces of sea glass ... and I came across Jeremy’s ring,” Crouch said.
She went to social media to try to find the ring’s owner, hoping she’d have a good chance since the ring had his last name, where and when he went to high school and the position he played in football.
“I put it on social media and some of my acquaintances knew him,” Crouch said.
Within a matter of days, Crouch ed Kennedy online and made a plan to get the ring back where it belonged.
“I’ve heard about things like this happening, but obviously you never think that it’s going to happen to you,” Kennedy said. “I really appreciate that she put it in the mail and it kind of gives me hope in humanity because people return things and she didn’t have to and she didn’t have to find me but she did and I’m really grateful.”
As remarkable as it is, Crouch said what makes it even better is that she found the ring just 5 miles from where Kennedy lost it in 1997.
“It has meant so much to him and he didn’t have it for that long before he left for the military and to bring someone that much happiness in their life, it means a lot to me. I’m grateful,” Crouch said.
As for where the ring will be displayed, Kennedy decided to wear it and said it means more to him now than it did when he was 18 years old.
“It’s very worn by the ocean. It didn’t used to look like this. It was all shiny but I think it adds more character now and it’s got a story too,” Kennedy said.
A story 28 years in the making, all thanks to a little bit of luck and a ring that refused to sink.
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