Earlier this year I wrote a column about a family heirloom ring my daughter, Brenna, had fixed in order to surprise my dad, her grandpa, Don Weigand. Unfortunately, at the time she still hadn’t been able to give it to him due to the pandemic. Many people have asked me since if she was ever able to give it to him, so I’ve decided to share the story’s ending here.

A quick recap for those who don’t know the story:

As a child in the 1920s, my maternal grandmother had been given a gold ruby ring from her classmates after she had missed a lot of school due to pneumonia. She cherished it, but over the years the ruby was somehow lost.

Fast forward, my parents received the ring in its original box after she passed away, and for some reason, its story struck a chord with Brenna and it became her goal to have it fixed someday.

When my parents went to Florida for two months this past winter, she saw her chance, secretly retrieving the ring from their home in Wendell.

A 19-year-old college student with a part time job, she spent a small fortune of her own money to have the ring repaired and the four-millimeter princess cut ruby replaced. Her plan was to surprise her grandpa with it on their return from Florida.

Unfortunately, the pandemic had just begun as my parents were coming home in March, and it was decided it was safer for them to just return to Wendell instead of stopping by our house in Clearwater.

My dad was due to have surgery in the spring, so it was vital he wasn’t exposed to the coronavirus. Because of this, we didn’t actually get to see them until the end of June, months after we were supposed to.

Because we didn’t want them to think someone had stolen the ring or that it had gotten lost, we had let my mom in on the secret but hadn’t said a word about it to my dad.

Finally together, Brenna sat her grandpa down and reminded him of the story of his mom’s childhood ring. He was a bit confused why she was talking about it but followed along. She then told him she’d always wanted to get it fixed and presented him with ring in its new jeweler’s box.

I don’t know if my dad has ever been speechless before, but he was when he opened the box and saw what was inside. He’s also not a person who shares his emotions, but I could see them going across his face as he realized what Brenna had done.

Eyes tearing up, he quietly said, “This is the nicest gift anyone has ever given me.”

At that, we all started talking at once to share details of the secret; how she carried it off, how the jeweler had broken the first ruby while they were setting it and had to order another one, and her original plan to present it to him in March.

The surprise, and the gift itself, was a success.

Today, with our country divided between the right and left and citizens on both sides hurling anger and hatred toward each other, I wish everyone would step back and take a moment to think about what’s really important in life.

Beyond all the politics, the riots and looting, and the mask debate, what really matters is how you treat your fellow human beings. Look past what side of the fence someone is on and see them for who they really are. Treat them like you want to be treated.

If everyone started treating each other like the granddaughter who wanted to do something special for her grandfather did, our country would be a lot closer to healing. The little things in life mean the most.