It has been five years since Hurricane Katrina it has not been easy but New Orleans is rebuilding and healing. One example, is this story presented to me recently, published in national and international publications and retold countless times by friends and the Early family.
Anne Dale and Brian Early August 2010
A story of a ring lost amongst the “stuff” in the rubble. A family heirloom that would grow beyond all monetary value and become one family’s Ring of Hope.
Anne Dale
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The Ring of Hope by Tom Fuldner September 3, 2007
In August (2007) Brian Early and his family returned to their home after they left in a hurry two years prior.
Pictures taken from Brian Early's boat
The Early’s live in the community of Lakeview, a section of New Orleans just northwest of the city, but still very much in the path of Hurricane Katrina.
photo by Brian Early
Strong winds and flooding waters hit their house hard, but today the floors are restored, the walls rebuilt and the furnishing replaced. About the only thing about the Early’s house that hadn’t changed are the memories accumulated over its 70-year history.
photo by Brian Early
The house had been built on piers that were almost four feet above the ground, yet when Katrina struck, the flood waters rose nearly eight feet higher, engulfing the first floor. Brian knew that to reclaim the house would require financial resources, hard work, patience and more than a little luck. But in those moments just before he set out to survey the damage, Brian may have thought that his luck was one more thing swept away by hurricane winds.
Early home Oct 2005
“My wife, Charlene, could not bear to see the destruction, so my daughter Amy and friend Hal went with me instead,” Brian says. “As we left, Charlene said, ‘if you can find only one thing, let it be the ring’.”
Among he possessions that his wife had left behind was a wedding ring that had been passed down to her from her mother and grandmother.
When Brian first climbed through the wreckage of his home, he understood his wife’s reluctance to accompany him.
mud and debris coated furniture
“Doors and windows had swollen in their frames,” he says. “Layers of wet mud and debris coated furniture, appliances, clothing, and whatever else that hadn’t washed away. As we sloshed through the damage, I knew that almost everything was lost. The ring may as well be a needle in a haystack, but I had to look for it. I was on a mission.”
“We threw pieces of the wreckage out a window to make a path in case we found anything salvageable,” Brain says. “Finally, I notice a glimmer. I started digging furiously on a section of the floor that gave way to a mud-coated mound of jewelry. Amy shouted suddenly: ‘Dad! The ring is there!’”
"we sloshed through the damage"
The discovery was bittersweet. The ring was coated with a tick tar. Amy said, “It’s bad. Don’t let Mom see it.”
“Within the hour, we walked into this exquisite little jewelry shop (Anne Dale Jeweller) that my friend recommended,” Brian says. “We tracked mud on the carpet as I approached the salesman behind the counter and told him my story. He smiled and said, ‘Bring it all in. I’d be happy to look at it.”
The musty smell of the mud-coated jewelry was overpowering, so they moved outside and sorted through the collection on the lawn. Brian picked up his wife’s ring and said, “What about this?”
The jeweler frowned as he held the ring and said, “I’m not sure. I think at one time it was workable. Give me a minute.” A minute became an hour. Brian was ready to give up. “I figured they probably had enough of me,” he says.
“I started to pick up my things when the jeweler came out with a ring case in hand, opening it saying, “I want you to give this to your wife. And tell her that if we can save this ring, we can do anything. And this ring represents hope: hope for the future, your family and life back in New Orleans.’”
Ring of Hope
“The ring shined,” Brian says. “They reset the diamonds. They reworked the whole thing and would not take any payment. I rushed home and handed the ring to my wife saying, ‘Baby, you’re not going to believe it!’ We all cried tears of joy.”
Brian says in the difficult months that followed, it was the recovery of the ring that gave him strength when he needed it most.
“It’s a story about people reaching out to each other,” he says.
“It’s about a ring… a ring of hope.”
- Early Home 2010
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I am humbled to know such a small act in my store made such powerful difference in one family’s journey to recovery.
I would like to thank the Early family for sharing their story (our story) and for renewing “my hope”.
Anne Dale
