9 years and 4 moves later, P.E.I. woman finds lost engagement ring on dish mat
'It felt like somebody had just placed it there for me to find it'
Katrina Durdle was washing the dishes Thursday when she noticed something shiny in the corner of the drying mat.
She could hardly believe her eyes — it was the silver diamond engagement ring she had lost nine years ago.
"I was super excited, I threw it on my finger!" she said.
Durdle thought the ring was long gone. She and her family had moved four times since she had lost it, and were washing dishes to pack for a fifth move when she found it.
She asked her fiancé — they are still engaged — and her 14-year-old daughter if they put it there for her to find. They both said no.
"We're pretty sure it was in like a measuring cup or a bowl or maybe a cake pan that has gone through four full moves, and then this move here, so we're pretty excited," she said.
"I must have scooped it out of the water and it fell onto the drying rack and nobody noticed. It's quite bizarre. It felt like somebody had just placed it there for me to find it."
Proposed on Canada Day in 2010
Durdle had purchased a replacement ring about seven years ago. It had fake diamonds and lacked the sentimental value of her engagement ring.
Kevin McNeill gave her the ring when he proposed during the Canada Day fireworks in Rustico in 2010. He led her down to the beach with their two kids.
"He was sitting on the bench beside me and he tapped my shoulder and he said to me, 'Katrina, I love you, we have two beautiful kids together. Will you marry me?'"
Then he showed her the sparkling ring.
"Of course I said yes and the fireworks went off and it was really special."
She sees the ring back on her finger as a sign that life is returning to normal after an otherwise challenging year dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Finding the ring was kind of like that glimmer of hope and sunshine. It felt pretty amazing."