Lost rings, stolen memories and unlocked doors

Reward offered for 1953 engagement ring Warwick — On Sept. 12, 1953, a handsome, young man on leave from the U.S. Navy proposed to his childhood sweetheart. He gave her a ring that she saw as the most beautiful there was — just like their blossoming love. The three-quarter carat, sparkling blue-white diamond was set in platinum fishtail setting, surrounded by three smaller diamonds on either side that made the diamond look as if it were really square. Raymond and Catherine Smith married in May 1955 and had a wonderful life together until Raymond died in 1999. Catherine really hadn’t worn her engagement ring for quite some time, keeping it tucked away in the sapphire blue velvet box in which it came. Instead, she chose to wear the simple band of diamonds of her wedding ring. She gave the engagement ring to me, her oldest daughter, about two years ago. I was the custodian of her treasured keepsake, until my daughter, her oldest granddaughter, was old enough to treasure it herself. With many years to go before that was going to happen, I wore my mother’s beautiful ring every day with her blessing. To me, it embodied my parents’ love for each other. They didn’t have much in the way of material things back in 1953 when they decided to get engaged. But my father, at the urging of his mother and aunt, spent what was a fortune to him on the ring for his future bride. On March 19, 2007, I spent the day helping my friend pack up her house. She and her husband are planning to move to Colorado. We spent the day packing her crystal, the knickknacks she had accumulated over the years and the mementos of their honeymoon just a year earlier. I didn’t wear my rings that day — I didn’t want to bang them into anything while we were packing and moving boxes. The next morning, I went to put on my rings, but only my plain gold wedding band was on top of my jewelry box. Gone were an anniversary band and my mother’s engagement ring. I immediately panicked. No, the cat didn’t swat them off, as my husband suggested. I looked through the laundry basket that sat just below my dresser. As I looked in my bedroom on my hands and knees, I knew they were stolen. I opened my jewelry box, which sits on the top of my dresser. My own engagement ring was missing, as was the ring my then-boyfriend and now-husband had made for me containing all of our birthstones, first just the two of ours all those years ago and then our children’s after they were born. We also realized our Poland Spring bottle of change was missing - they must have been pretty strong to drag that out — as well as a basket of change my son kept on his night stand. We called the police to report the theft. Yes, I left my back door unlocked. I didn’t always leave it open but I usually did, especially if one of my kids might be home before me. I never knew if they had their keys with them or not. I grew up where you locked your doors if you weren’t home. Since moving to Warwick 19 years ago, we always kept the door unlocked. Being on a pretty busy but rural road, we didn’t see the need to lock up. But we do now. In talking to people around town I have learned that a very similar thing happened just two miles from my Pine Island Turnpike home. Another home was missing a jewelry box and nothing else. Nothing was out of place. How often does this happen? There haven’t been any real leads yet on this theft that happened a month ago. It has been difficult to get past the fact that really the only family heirloom we had is now gone. I’ve been to jewelry stores in the area hoping to find it, asking if anyone has come in to sell rings that meet these descriptions. I’m still optimistic, although some may think that’s foolish. But the bigger issue is: How often is this happening? Should we keep our doors unlocked anymore? There is the old saying that locked doors only keep out honest people. If someone wants to rob your house and no car is in the driveway, they can easily smash a window or get in another way. And, with so many of us living in rural, isolated areas, no one can witness them. People who are robbed don’t necessarily talk about it. Some chalk it up to kids, drugs, whatever. But when you’ve lost things — and I know they are only “things” —that have meaning in your life, it really is a violation. It’s difficult to explain to someone who may not understand sentiment just what we lost here. It wasn’t just a material thing. It was a connection to my parents, a connection that we hoped would be passed to the next generation and the generation after that. And maybe there is a pattern. Just how many homes and families are being violated? Do you know what is happening down the street, around the corner, on the other side of town? If you have any information about thefts in our town or elsewhere, inform your neighbors by posting your comments on our Web site. And call Detective Gary Sisco of the Warwick Police Department, who happens to be working on my particular case. I know it is a shot in the dark, but we are offering a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that can lead us to the people who stole my jewelry and/or for the recovery of my mother’s very special ring. No questions asked. Rebuilding In the meantime, our family is a bit skittish, knowing that someone who was not invited, actually came into our home and took what belonged to us. They took not only rings and money, but a certain sense of security and trust my family, my children especially, has always had. It is tough explaining to your children that we can’t be as trusting as we once were. Where do you draw the line with kids? How do you decide who to trust and who not to? Even more difficult, how do you explain that? All in all, we are extremely thankful that no one was home, no one walked in on the robbery, and that no one was physically hurt. But (and it is a big but) I want my mother’s ring back! It broke her heart to hear that it was gone. And that broke mine. Sure, there are much bigger tragedies and if this is the worst thing that happens to us, we’ll be okay. Being somewhat optimistic, I am hoping that someone out there knows who did this and maybe has enough of a conscience that they will contact us or the police. I wanted to be able to give to my daughter what my mother gave to me. Not only in the shape of a ring, but in security and trust and optimism. While we continue to work on rebuilding that, our doors are firmly locked.