CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Melanie Tijerina never thought she would see the ring she had specially made to honor her children again.
"I actually started to convince myself I had possibly thrown it away after hand-drying my hands," Tijerina said.
Tijerina was shopping at La Palmera mall on the busiest shopping day of the season, Black Friday, with her family when she took her ring off to wash her hands in a department store bathroom. Though it is not an expensive piece of jewelry, the ring, to Tijerina, was priceless. It was made with her children's birthstones. It was her "mother" ring.
She said she got distracted with her baby while in the bathroom and ended up leaving without putting it back on.
"I panicked, of course," Tijerina said. "I was with my grandma and my baby and I felt my finger and realized it was missing. I told my grandma to get the baby and I ran back to the bathroom."
But the ring was no where to be found. She cried, but, she did not give up. She understood that she may never see the ring again, but she took to social media to plead for the return of her lost prized possession.
"This ring has no monetary value. It cost less than $100. But it is priceless to me. It has my kids birthstones. I bought this for myself last year. I always put the kids before my wants so this was a ‘big’ purchase for me. I can easily replace it but I want THIS one," she said in the post.
What happened next, she never expected. Hundreds of people started to share the post.
"I felt excited with just 10 shares so I was definitely amazed at the amount it eventually got up to by that night," Tijerina said.
She made the post Saturday morning, and by Saturday evening, she received a message.
"I was so shocked, all I really processed was 'the ring in my posession' and 'I'd like to return it,'" Tijerina said. She was able to get the ring back the next day.
Tijerina said it doesn't matter what happened, it only matters that her ring was returned, and that, she is thankful for. She updated her post shortly after to let everyone know how grateful she was.
"Thank you all so very much for sharing! I appreciate each and every single one of you and especially the person who found it and is returning it."
Sometimes, you need a story that makes you smile.