A graduate from Saint Francis Xavier University has her X-Ring back on her finger, after losing it seven years ago, thanks to a discovery at a Halifax-area thrift store.

Director of Alumni Affairs at St. FX, Shanna Hopkins tells us, the journey to the reunion started January 2, when the ring was found at the Value Village in Dartmouth by someone who lives in Antigonish.

When they came home, they posted on the Antigonish Facebook page tagging Hopkins, who then made it her mission to find the rightful owner.

“We were aware that the grad year on the ring was 2001, which made that one extra special for me because it was my grad year,” Hopkins says. “So, it was something that I wanted to make sure we worked on right away because it was one of my classmates, obviously, that was missing their ring.”

They got a hold of the store, who was able to tell by the inscription on the back that the owner was someone named ‘Becky’.

Hopkins says, then they started looking a little deeper, trying an old yearbook, then the school’s database, and finally ancillary services who found Becky Carruthers, now Becky Savoie.

“So, I just took a chance and threw her a message on Facebook and asked, “Hi Becky, is there any chance that you lost your X-Ring?’ She wrote back within 15 seconds and said, ‘Yes, why? Did somebody find it?'”

A staff member from the University was then able to bring the ring home to her.

How did it get lost?

The ring was missing for seven years and Hopkins says, Becky thinks it may have ended up with some household items.

“She figures it was either in a pocket of clothing or kind of got thrown in a bag by mistake or fell off her hand when she was putting her kids toys away.”

Hopkins adds, it was then in November that she finally decided to take a load of bags to the Value Village.

“So, all of the time it was missing…it was never really missing. She was so elated to get her ring back.”

X-Rings are found everywhere

Lost X-Rings are a common occurrence, and they can happen all over the country, if not the world.

Hopkins says they get calls about once a month about X-Ring that are misplaced, most commonly on the golf course.

“People take off their rings when they’re golfing, just from gripping the club, [or they] put them in their golf bags and then it falls out. We did just actually have a ring that was turned into us from the Halifax sewer department that was found in the sewer in Halifax. By the looks of it, I’d say it’s been there awhile.”

In addition to that, about two years ago an X-Ring was found in a Florida pawn shop, which was found by someone from New Brunswick.

Keep contact info up to date

To make sure you get your ring back if you lose it, remember to keep your contact information up to date.

Hopkins says, even though the name and degree may be on the back, it’s easier to reunite you with your ring if they can confirm who you are.

Receiving an X-Ring at a graduation ceremony is something everybody remembers, Hopkins says, and when a ring goes missing there’s a sort of understanding what it means.

“It’s something very special.”