More than 40 years after a New York man last saw his high school ring, the love token he gave his wife was found on a Greek island.
Stan Ostapiak graduated from the now defunct Seward Park High School in Manhattan in 1962. When he began dating Elaine in 1970, he gave it to his then-girlfriend as a token of love.
"When you would go steady with a girl, you would give her your high school ring. And she'd give you her high school ring," said Ostapiak, a retired police officer.
At their wedding reception two years later, the ring in his wife's purse disappeared.
"We were really disappointed and hurt that the ring was taken," said Elaine Ostapiak. "We had no idea who took it."
Fast forward to the Greek island of Naxos about a month ago. A Greek young man came across the ring in his late father's belongings. How it got there is a mystery.
The name of the Seward Park High School in New York was engraved inside, leading to the school's alumni association via the Internet.
Local
On Staten Island, Ostapiak and his wife got a phone call from the president of the alumni association.
"He says, 'Stan I got a good one for you,'" said Ostapiak. "And he proceeded to tell me that this gentleman from Greece emailed him and that he found the ring."
In early July, the polished ring arrived by mail, polished and gleaming in a new box.
"I hope this ring brings you joy and happiness, and maybe some old memories," the sender, Vasilis Polykretis, wrote on a postcard.
The symbol of love has come full circle, reunited with a family that now includes three children and seven grandchildren.
"We're so excited that we got it back," said Elaine Ostapiak. "We'll be married 42 years come October and we're gonna celebrate that night."
"Until I saw it in my hands, it was hard for me to believe that this happening," said Stan Ostapiak. "It's so weird after 42 years after we got my ring back."
"It's a very happy ending. It made my day," he said.
