About a month ago, when Mrs. Monica Garcia, the administration assistant for Mr. Campbell, was cleaning out the vault in the office, she found a box stashed away in a drawer. In that box were two old class rings dating back to 1977 and 1986. The rings, one men’s ring, and one women’s ring, belonged to two people who went to and graduated from Santa Maria High School. The rings had inscriptions on them. They were also engraved with two names: Pam Freed and Joshua Joyner. Coincidentally, Mrs. Garcia’s friend, Donna, also graduated the same year as Pam Freed, in 1977. After talking to her friend Donna, Mrs. Garcia found out that Donna was on the drill team with Pam. After some research Mrs. Garcia was able to locate Pam Freed. She lives in Los Angeles, California. She contacted her and Pam told her the following story.

Pam had lost her ring a couple of months after getting it. She left her ring on a counter when she was in the restroom and when she came back, her ring was gone. Forty four years have passed since she lost her class ring.

The other ring belonged to a male student, Joshua Joyner. While researching, Mrs. Garcia discovered that Joshua had died back in the 1990’s. Through social media, she able to get in contact with Joshua’s mother and his brother, Jason Joyner, who both now live in Marion, Illinois. When she talked to them about her finding Joshua’s ring, they were really surprised and delighted. They told Mrs. Garcia that Joshua died when he only 27 years old. Mrs. Garcia sent them his ring and included a yearbook from the time when he was still in high school. Mrs. Garcia was happy to give them something so precious and meaningful. When interviewed, Mrs. Garcia talked about how Joshua’s family did not have many of his belongings. That is one big reason why his family was grateful to have something that reminded them of him. Mrs. Garcia talked about their thoughts on the ring. “They thought it was lost forever.”