It's a minor miracle right out of a holiday movie: when a woman lost two cherished rings while vacationing in Boston, a stranger who was also on vacation happened to find them, moments after joining in the search.
Finding the rings on Boston Common was "total luck," Kory Kelly told NBC10 Boston. "I mean, it was the first pile of leaves I walked over. I didn't even bend down, I just kicked it over with my foot and there they were."
Lori Lange had lost the two rings — one that belonged to her mother, the other her wedding ring, with a diamond for each of her seven grandchildren — when the Phoenix resident recently visited Boston on trip to her mother's hometown last week.
The rings got lost while she was having some fun tossing the multi-colored fall leaves in the park, and it made her feel like she'd let her loved ones down: "By goofing around in leaves, I had disappointed them."
When she realized the rings were gone, she returned to Boston days later, according to her daughter, who reached out to NBC10 Boston with the story — and the acts of kindness that followed.
Several people stopped what they were doing to search the piles of leaves and find the ring, even holding off landscapers who were going to clear the leaves. And that's when Kelly, who was visiting Boston with his own mother, stepped in.
"We see a bunch of ladies kind of on the ground digging through the leaves and I just thought, 'What the heck are these people doing? Is this a northeastern thing?'"
Lange said she hadn't told anyone else what she was looking for, leaving that to her friends, but she did tell him. She recalled what happened next: "He's like, 'We've got some time. I'm going to look.' Him and his little boot just kicked. Like, before I even had a chance really to turn around he goes, 'Is this it?' I'm like…is this it?' And I really don't remember that first ring."
He'd found Lange's mother's ring in an instant, providing instant relief and sparking cheers among the people searching.
"My girlfriend is like, 'I knew we'd find that one, if we didn't find anything else,'" Lange said. And then Kelly said, "'There's two?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, there's another one. My wedding ring. But that's OK, that's OK.'"
Moments later, he found that one, too — it was caught on video, with Lange screaming and hugging Kelly.
The pair had messages for one another. Kelly, who called Lange "really sweet," said he hopes their paths cross again and that she pays the kindness forward.
Lange was more effusive about Kelly: "I had already been over that spot, there's actual video of other people who were just standing right over that spot. Nobody saw it. Kory saw it. I will believe he had his angel wings under his little red flannel shirt. Just his demeanor, his pure love and happiness and joy, he's such a good person. And, yeah. Summed up Boston for me! It was pretty great."
After her "Hallmark moment," she had a message for Boston, too.
"There's nothing like Boston in this entire world. It's home. It's home — and it's great," she said.
