SELMA — Staring through the lace curtains of her living room wouldn’t deliver the mail any faster. But she wished it would.

Jo Ann Davis Beaver anxiously awaited the arrival of her 1956 Albert G. Parrish High School class ring after losing it 42 years ago.

“I thought it was gone and that I’d never see it again,” Beaver said.

The ring found its way back to Beaver through a series of phone calls, e-mails and finally a posting on Facebook.

“Within a couple of hours I had an e-mail that they had found the owner of the ring and she lives here in Selma and that she was tickled to death at the prospect of seeing her ring again,” said Elaine Stewart, student from the class of 1967.

Stewart then connected Beaver with Jeanette Groover, the person possessing the ring.

Groover, a resident of Hartselle, found the ring in a box of old jewelry with her collection of antiques from her store, Janette’s Jazzy Junk and Antiques, while she was searching for gold items to sell online because the price of gold had increased.

“I started digging through all my drawers of all my goodies that I have saved over the years and I found it,” Groover said.

The boxes spent at least 10 years in storage since Groover closed her antique store in 1996.

She is unsure of when or where she purchased the box containing the ring.

“When you’re in the junk business or the antique business, you just buy anything you think you can make money on,” Groover said. “I don’t know particularly how or when I purchased this ring because you buy box lots of a jewelry box lot of old jewelry, or you could buy a box of odds and ends and it could be tucked away in a pocket. I just really don’t know how I came across it. I just know that I had it.”

In her years of antique shopping at estate sales and auctions, Groover has traveled as far as California, Maine and Massachusetts, but the closest to Selma she has shopped is Maplesville, which is about 28 miles north of Selma.

Groover noticed the ring had the name Parrish High School, the year 1956 and engraved initials on the inside of the ring were JAD. Searching online for information about Parrish High School, she e-mailed alumni to see if anyone knew a classmate with those initials.

That was when Groover and Stewart connected.

Stewart then called Beaver on Aug. 19 to inform her of the found ring.

Beaver and Groover then talked on Aug. 21.

Before Groover would confirm she had the correct ring, she asked Beaver about two differences on the ring.

From Groover’s research about Parrish High, she thought the mascot might have been a ram and that the school’s colors did not match the gemstone on the ring.

“Deep down I thought oh no,” Groover said.

Beaver described she and her friends had chosen a red stone for the ring because it was prettier than the black and gold colors of the school. She also said the mascot was a tiger, matching the mascot in the center of the ring.

Groover sighed in relief. The stone color and mascot were the two items to not match her research of the school. The center of the ring also has the front facade of the school, what is now Selma High School, and the school name Albert Parrish High School.

“And I thought, well I’ve got your ring,” Groover said.

She mailed the ring to Selma and Beaver received it Thursday.

It is still a shock to Beaver that her ring has been found.

The last time she wore the ring was 44 years ago, when she took it off because her fingers became too swollen from her pregnancy with her daughter, Rebecca Beaver Irwin.

Beaver is not sure if she misplaced it while moving or if it was stolen from a housekeeper.

“I shouldn’t accuse anybody because I don’t know, or if it was just my mistake,” Beaver said. “It’s really been a miracle because I never dreamed I get it back, especially after I had moved a couple of times and I still couldn’t find it.”

Beaver plans to display the ring in a clear box on her entertainment center and will give it to her daughter as a family heirloom. She can no longer wear it because it will not fit past her knuckle and she is apprehensive to alter the size.

“I’m so proud of it,” Beaver said. “I just can’t get over somebody finding it after all these years. I’m so glad somebody looked and checked on it.”

Groover will not charge Beaver for the ring. She is just happy to get it back to its owner.

“I believe in miracles because I believe this is one,” Beaver said.