KINGSPORT, Tenn. -- Ruth Jones had pretty much given up on finding an anniversary ring she lost in the backyard of her old house about 55 years ago.
But after a recent visit from her nine-year-old great-grandson Noah and the use of his metal detector, Jones has been re-united with the long-lost gold band.
"I never thought I'd find it," Jones said. "I can't explain how I feel...it was really exciting and to see how excited Noah was. It sure was a very nice surprise."
Jones married her husband Rufus in 1952 and on their one-year wedding anniversary he gave her the ring. In 1959, the couple moved into a house on Brentwood Drive and two years later moved into a new house right next door.
While removing clothes from the clothesline in the backyard of the first Brentwood Drive house decades ago, Ruth said the ring fell off her finger.
"When it hit the ground I heard it," she said. "I was at the clothesline getting the clothes in and the ring fell off my finger. We never could find it."
That is until spring break, when Noah and his parents came to visit from Murfreesboro. Noah brought his metal detector he received for Christmas, swept the backyard near the clothesline and found the ring buried about four to six inches under the ground.
"We've had other people come here looking for it," Jones said. "I thought we would never find it."
Ruth has since told friends and family about Noah finding the lost ring, even taking the anniversary gift to church to show her friends.
Rufus passed away in November 2005, and though Ruth said she was upset when she lost the ring, her husband was probably more upset when it happened.
"My husband called me right after I lost it and I was real upset and he said you're not going to sit and cry are you? I said I guess," Ruth said. "But he's the one who worried so much about it."