katelyn peckham engagement ringCommuting to the city on the train can be a totally annoying, harrowing experience, but it was worse than usual for Katelyn Peckham yesterday. The 25-year-old was wearing her engagement ring, a one-of-a-kind heirloom that was made using her mom's diamond, on her way into Boston for work. She took it off to apply hand sanitizer, and when she arrived in her office that morning, she realized her hand was bare. Aghh!

Peckham's co-workers were amazingly helpful, sending out emails, tweets, and Facebook messages with pictures of the ring, asking friends and family to keep an eye out. Then commuter rail employees noticed the messages on Twitter, and they notified train operators. And, in the end, it was one of the train's conductors who came to the rescue.

While doing his usual sweep, conductor Thomas Booth found the ring in the aisle where Peckham had been sitting. Like a fairy tale, Peckham boarded that same train to search, and he asked her if the ring was what she was looking for. As you can imagine, she was over-the-moon to have her ring back.

Ugh -- I could imagine just how gut-wrenching and devastating this whole experience was for Katelyn, but the happy ending really does restore my faith in humanity!

And the story really makes me stop and think ... Sure, some might argue it's only a material thing, but the value of an engagement ring can go above and beyond "just a ring." For Katelyn, it's deeply sentimental, not just because it symbolizes her love and commitment to her fiance, but because they used her mom's diamond to make the ring. That makes it hugely personal, and clearly, I'd understand her desire to keep something like that in her family for years to come.

Thank goodness for Twitter and honest, good-hearted train conductors for saving the day and Katelyn from a broken heart!

Check out a video of the news report on Katelyn's story ...

 

Have you ever lost or almost lost your engagement ring?

 

Image via KSDK.com