After losing her wedding ring outside her home just before Hurricane Ian made landfall, Fort Myers resident Ashley Garner gave up hope that she'd ever see it again.
But she was wrong.
"I just accepted that it was gone," Garner told the Associated Press. "We knew the hurricane was coming, so we just kind of said goodbye."
After braving the hurricane's 150 mile-per-hour winds from inside their home, Garner and her family went outside to begin clearing out the debris left by Ian.
"We're about 10 minutes into cleaning, and my husband is cleaning up the brush and the trees right next to the garage door," she told the AP. "There's a pile of brush and trees, and he moves over one pile, and the ring was right there."
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Garner posted about finding the ring on Facebook, writing "God will provide, always have, always will. If this isn't a sign I don't know what is." She shared a picture of her ring glistening in the sun on a pile of brush.
Garner said the fact that her ring wasn't carried off by the wind or floodwater should be seen as a guiding light for the entire community impacted by the hurricane.
"I just sat on the curb and I prayed to God, and thanked him for providing and giving us a sign that there's hope for the community," she said.
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