Steven A. Spura '76, SM '77
The Adventure of the Wandering Brass Rat
Steven Spura shows off his brass rat, back where it belongs.
I'd like to share a rather remarkable thing that happened recently. It all really started back in 1976 (or was it 1977?). I suddenly realized that I no longer had my class ring on my finger. At the time, I was wearing it constantly, so this discovery meant that it had gotten lost. A very thorough search confirmed that it was nowhere in the vicinity of my normal spaces. It was a mystery but the conclusion was clear, my class ring was lost to me.
Over the years, I considered acquiring a generic class ring from the Coop, or attempting to track down the process to have a new replacement created. But I never acted on these thoughts. The ring's importance to me was easy to dismiss. Then I would notice one on a colleague's hand, or at some meet-and-greet occasion, and I'd remember my lost ring.
In mid-December 2008, I received a phone call from our class secretary, Reynold Lewke '76, SM '76, asking me about my lost ring. I was intrigued since now it was about 30 years later. He said that he had been contacted by a person in Northampton, Massachusetts, asking for assistance to find the owner of a class of '76 brass rat that he had found. What made it so difficult was that the engraved name inside the ring was done in such an italicized way that the letters in the last name became very hard to distinguish. With Reynold's help and using the information that could be read, my name became the most obvious suspect. Since all the particulars fit well enough, I made the connection to this fellow.
He is about 65 years old and for 40 years, he and two other companions would regularly scour Northampton with metal detectors. Somewhere on the banks of Smith College's Paradise Pond (a central landmark on that campus), he found my ring. He said that the discovery was made about 15 years ago. Well, Smith College was certainly a logical place for the ring to have come to rest since I had spent many visits there as part of the MIT Glee Club to sing in concerts, and the MIT Guild of Change Ringers, as well as going there for other reasons including courting the woman whom I would eventually marry. I guess these things might explain how I had other things on my mind when the ring decided to take an extended leave.
Now this treasure hunter has lost his friends to the fortunes of time and illness, and he was looking at the items he had collected. He told me that he had a small table with several class rings and other identifiable items on it that he was attempting to reunite with their owners. He said he was concerned that if he didn't do it, his kids would just box it all up and send it all to some scrap collector. But, since I'm writing this little missive, for me and my wayward ring, the story ends on a happy note. Soon after our conversation my ring was shipped to me; and almost as amazing, it still fit.
I'm now wearing it every day. I'm very happy to have it back and proud to wear it. And, I'm hoping that my ring will not decide that it needs another adventure.
By Steven A. Spura '76, SM '77
Published January 22, 2009
