A Maine man says he was "speechless" after he received the 2001 high school class ring of his daughter, who lost her life to cancer five years ago at age 32.
Conrad Davis says he received the ring, which belonged to his daughter, Nicole, shortly before Father's Day this June.
A message included in the package from a woman in Whitefield said her husband found the ring in a bag of rod hooks in a barn that had not been looked at in a long time.
The family had no idea how long the ring had been there, but saw Nicole's name on the inside of the ring, looked her up and found out she had died.
They then discovered Davis' address and mailed the jewelry to him, saying in an accompanying letter, "may its returned presence bring you a measure of comfort."
"I was just absolutely speechless, floored at that point," he said at his home during a Wednesday interview with NECN and NBC10 Boston.
Davis explained that his daughter had lost the ring at the University of Maine in Orono, but that, according to his son, she never said much about it because she was afraid her father would be upset.
"Honestly, when I'd hold the ring, it was actually like holding her hand," he said.
Since Nicole's death in 2016, Davis has found many ways to keep her memory alive. He says the ring's arrival fits in with other events he's experienced that remind him of Nicole, including the discovery of two Diet Coke bottles at a store, stocked next to each other with the names "Nicole" and "Davis" on them, shortly after her passing.
The bottles and pictures of Nicole are on a shelf in Davis' living room, which has numerous pictures of her as well as a halogen lamp he keeps on at all times in her memory.
The ring will now have a special place in his home, too, and he plans to try to visit the family that found it to show his gratitude.
"I don't know the words to express to them ... these people had nothing to gain," he said of the selfless effort the family put in to find him.
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Davis hopes the story of the ring inspires other people to find ways to show kindness to each other and proves that going through the work of finding someone who may have lost an item, even if that person is a total stranger, can sometimes make a huge positive impact in a person's life.
"We need more selflessness around," he said.
