WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Remember your class ring? It's a simple token to help you remember a special time in your life. Buster Kast graduated from Northside in 1991. A couple of years later, he lost his ring, and what followed is a story that spans 27 years.
"The last time I remember wearing it, we were on vacation at St. Augustine and we rented a car," Buster said.
Chance McDonald recalls the next part of the story talking about a family vacation.
"They got a rental car from Alabama and they went to get the kids out of the car and get stuff out of the trunk, and they found a ring," he said.
Chance doesn't remember that day exactly -- he was just a baby -- but that ring that once belonged to Buster hung out with the McDonalds for over 20 years.
"It went through four moves. We had it in a box just sitting around, taking it with us, and every once in a while, we'd look in the box and go, 'Oh, yeah,'" Chance said.
Fast forward to 2020, and Chance had time on his hands during the pandemic. One day, he thought more about that ring.
"Maybe now that Facebook is more popular and it's been so long and maybe they have a Facebook account," he surmised.
The ring gave off clues, like the name Buster and Northside High School.
Chance did manage to hit pay dirt.
"I didn't believe it because he just texted me out of the blue. Next thing I know, he's asking if I lost one and I was like, 'Absolutely,'" Buster exclaimed.
After a series of text messages, the two met in Social Circle where Chance and his family live, and this story could just end right there, and that would be fine, but this ring had a special meaning for Buster -- more than just a memory from high school.
It's a feeling that he cherishes that could only be understood as an adult.
"My dad, back in the day, he couldn't really afford the ring and I begged him and begged him, and with one income at the house at the time, you know, trying to raise three kids," Buster explained.
You get the picture.
His dad, Bill Kast ,was a sergeant with the Houston County Sheriff's Office and he had to really sacrifice to get Buster that ring, so when it came back, Buster and Chance felt a flood of emotion.
"It really brought tears to my eyes when I saw it," Buster said.
"It was a lot," Chance recalled.
Chance may never realize the impact of his simple gesture until he gets older, but for now, he's proud that the ring has its rightful owner, and Buster is thankful a teenager went the extra mile.
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