Last updated on December 27th, 2021 at 10:36 pm

I believe things happen for a reason, and what happened in October 2020 is the most serendipitous thing that has ever happened to me.

For as long as I can remember, my Grandma wore a snake ring. And not a delicate, cute snake. A badass snake with fangs. My Grandma bought this ring in the 70’s, while the family was living in Athens, Greece. It’s extremely unique, and I imagine extremely rare because of its age and where it originally came from.

It was always on her pinky finger, and is one of the many things I remember vividly about her. I always thought of it as a character-defining piece of jewelry to wear every day. 

For Christmas one year, my Grandma and Grandpa got my sister and I our own snake rings, it’s gorgeous, and I love wearing it, but it’s not the same. 

When she passed, it was like I had lost my best friend and biggest supporter. Before she passed, we had joked about her “haunting” me someday, but alas, no messages from beyond. 

My Aunt got the ring (rightfully so!) and I think about it, and her often. 

On October 30, I was on Pinterest just looking around, and a snake ring came up in my feed and I thought it was really pretty. I saved it to my Jewelry board, and kept moving. A couple more popped up, and I started to look around to see what else I could find on Etsy. 

Somehow, for some reason, I decided to Google snake ring and however many results down in the photos, there it was. My Grandma’s ring. For sale. At an antique store. In New Jersey. The state where my Grandma is buried. On the four year anniversary of her passing. 

If I was looking for a sign, I’m pretty sure this was it. 

It was a bit of an investment, but how could I not buy it? Let’s call it…a little gift to myself. 

I couldn’t wait for that ring to arrive, and because I bought it from a small store they didn’t send me tracking info. So I didn’t know it was on its way until it showed up in my daily USPS email. HECK YES.

This was not a cheap purchase, so I had no idea if I needed to sign for it. I was on pins and needles all day – my work from home desk is near the front door, so every noise I heard outside was “IS THAT IT?!” It wasn’t. 

You want to know how my ring was delivered? In the mailbox! In a little USPS shipping box. Thank GOODNESS nothing happened to it on the way here, because I probably would have been SOL. 

It was kind of surreal opening up the package and seeing something that had (essentially) been part of my life for as long as I can remember, but was really part of someone else’s history. It’s such a cool thing to think about. 

I know my Grandma led me to find this ring so I could have one of my own, and I’m eternally grateful.

Here are the two rings side-by-side – can you believe how identical they are? To have two of these rings in the Harper Girls family, truly is serendipity!

Do you have any family heirlooms with an awesome back story? I’d love to hear about it!

Check out some more stories about The Harper Girls family! And big shout out to Victorious Cape May who had the ring!