She was only separated from it for 24 hours or so, but it felt like an eternity to Richmond’s Sarah Mailhot.
On Tuesday afternoon, nothing seemed out of the ordinary for Mailhot, who had been doing some grocery shopping at Save-On Foods in Ironwood, a store she doesn’t normally frequent.
But later on that day she realized, to her horror, that her prized possession – a relatively new engagement ring – was missing from her finger.
Mailhot said the ring was a “symbol” of all that she and her fiancé, Tyler Pitt, had been through to get to this point in their relationship.
Ring was nowhere to be seen
“With the stress, I couldn’t exactly remember where I might have lost it,” Mailhot told the Richmond News.
“I knew I had it on going in the store and did use the washroom there, so that’s where I looked first. I checked the washroom later, but it was gone.
“We’ve had to go through a lot of challenges together, not even knowing if we were going to get this far.
“There was a lot of emotional attachment to the ring. It was a symbol of our future and the path we are on.”
Frantic search was on, flyers were posted
Frantic at the loss, Mailhot quickly posted flyers at the store and alerted Save-On staff about the ring.
And on Wednesday afternoon, she got a call from a fellow customer at the store, Charlaine Badock.
“She found it in the washroom and wanted to make sure it returned to the rightful owner,” said an ecstatic Mailhot.
“I think I took it off to wash my hands. (Charlaine) had went back in on Wednesday and she saw my flyer and called me.
“When she called, I was so relieved and shocked; I thought it was lost forever.
Crying on the phone when ring was found
“It was a massive weight off my shoulders and my heart. It meant the world to me. I was crying on the phone with her. It meant a lot to my fiancé as well; he put a lot of thought into it.”
The pair met up Thursday so Mailhot could be reunited with the ring.
“I also want to thank the staff at the store, they were wonderful,” added Mailhot.
