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| Photo Credit: AP. |
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Ashley Garner had given up on ever seeing her wedding ring again.
She lost it
outside her Fort Myers home just days before Hurricane Ian crashed into the
coast of southwest Florida last Wednesday. Despite enlisting her husband and
three young children to help search around their yard and garage for two days,
there was no sign of the ring.
“I just
accepted that it was gone,” Garner said. “It was only a thing. It’s
replaceable, and I just let it go. We knew the hurricane was coming, so we just
kind of said goodbye.”
The family
stayed at their home during the storm and went outside to clean up as soon as
it had passed.
“We’re about
10 minutes into cleaning, and my husband is cleaning up the brush and the trees
right next to the garage door,” Garner said. “There’s a pile of brush and
trees, and he moves over one pile, and the ring was right there.”
Garner said
she couldn’t believe they found the ring. Her neighborhood didn’t experience
the destructive flooding that many parts of the state did. But 150 mph winds
left massive piles of trees and brush throughout the area.
“I just sat
on the curb, and I prayed to God and thanked him for providing and giving us a
sign that there’s hope for the community,” Garner said.
Garner
posted about finding the ring on Facebook earlier this week.