Lost ring back after 33 years

RICHARDSON, Texas, June 28 (UPI) -- A Texas woman who lost her class ring 33 years ago said it has been returned to her.

Maureen Gresham of Richardson, formerly Maureen Hamann, said she lost the Class of 1976 ring from Virginia's Longwood College in the spring of 1977 while feeling sick at the side of a road. She said she had gone out to a dinner in Carrollton and became sick afterward, The Dallas Morning News reported Monday.

Gresham said she was able to obtain a replacement, but it wasn't an exact match to the original.

She said she received a call earlier this month from Jake Pennington, a man who told her his mother, Perry Kelley Pennington, had found the ring about 33 years ago and had been unable to identify the true owner until he looked up the inscribed name on ancestry.com.

Perry Kelley Pennington said she was glad to finally be able to give the ring back. She said she hopes a lasting friendship will grow from her bond with the other woman.

"We've invited them to come out and visit and have dinner," she said. "I already feel like I know her."