Chicago residents Karen Autenrieth and her husband Robert thought that the wedding band, which they had lost 50 years ago, was gone for good. Thanks to a Facebook comment, they got it back – and in perfect timing for Valentine’s Day.
Karen last saw the ring in the winter of 1973. She had parked her car in front of her grandmother’s house in Chicago, and while walking over the snow, without her mittens on, the ring fell. Karen repeatedly searched for the gold ring – engraved with “RA to K.B. 4-16-66” in honor of the day she and her husband married – but couldn’t find it anywhere.
Fast forward 48 years later: Earlier this month, another Chicago man lost his wedding ring, and posted on Facebook to ask if anyone had found it. Sarah Batka, a woman who lives in Autenrieth’s grandparents’ former Chicago home, commented on the post that she had found a wedding ring some years ago. It wasn’t the man’s ring, but as it turned out – it made another couple very happy. Two historians working at the Ridge Historical Society in Chicago were tagged in the post, and after days of going through records, newspaper archives and genealogy sites – they found the ring’s rightful owners.
The story came full circle on Valentine’s Day, joining an emotional Robert and a tearful Karen with their long lost ring.
