A few weeks ago, the Edgartown police department received a call from Ezia Leach who said she found a gold ring in the wharf parking lot. The ring was studded with three emerald diamonds attached to a red ribbon.

Ms. Leach had already called some Island hotels thinking a newly engaged couple might have lost what looked like a meaningful ring. So far no one had heard about a lost ring, but Becca LaMarche, the police department’s assistant, said Ms. Leach’s description sounded similar to a ring that Islander Kathi Pogoda called the department about.

Ms. LaMarche verified the description with both parties and discovered it was a match.

Ms. Leach is a seasonal resident of the Vineyard and decided she wanted to return to the Island to deliver the ring in-person at the police station to Ms. Pogoda.

Ezia Leach and Kathi Pogoda.

Ezia Leach and Kathi Pogoda.

At the station, Ms. Pogoda told everyone how she had originally given the ring to her friend Lucy Cox when Ms. Cox was first diagnosed with lung cancer. When Ms. Cox died this past June, her husband tied a red ribbon around the ring and returned it to Ms. Pogoda.

Since then, Ms. Pogoda has carried the ring with her everywhere. During the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, she thought of it as her good luck charm.

“Every day I took it out, looked at it, said a little prayer, you know, remembrance of her, and said, oh, I hope I catch a fish today,” Ms. Pogoda said.

But when the weather turned colder, Ms. Pogoda put on a change of clothes and didn’t notice the ring had fallen out of her pocket. She looked everywhere for it and was devastated to think she had lost such a cherished memory of her friend.

Upon hearing the story, Ms. Leach thought Ms. Cox’s name sounded familiar. She pulled out her phone and saw that Ms. Cox had been one of her Facebook friends. She also noticed that her daughter, 21 year-old Sedona Leach, was friends with Ms. Cox too.

That is when Ms. Leach recalled how Ms. Cox had hired Sedona to draw portraits of her two grandchildren in 2022, her daughter’s first commission as an artist.

Ms. LaMarche said that when Ms. Leach made the connection to Ms. Cox, everyone in the police station was overcome with emotion.

“Everybody in the lobby was crying and it was just so beautiful that the ring brought these two people together,” Ms. LaMarche said.

Ms. Pagoda said it was as if Ms. Cox had wanted them to find each other.

“[Ms. Leach] has this personality and vibe vitality, just like Lucy,” Ms. Pogoda said when remarking on how both women embody selflessness.

Portraits of Lucy Cox’s grandchildren drawn by Sedona Leach in 2022.

Portraits of Lucy Cox’s grandchildren drawn by Sedona Leach in 2022.

Before she went to the police station, Ms. Pogoda had placed a $100 reward in a thank you note. She handed the card to Ms. Leach and told her not to open it until she had left.

Ms. Leach messaged her back later, thanking her and saying she would prefer to donate the money to a cause Ms. Cox was passionate about.

Ms. Cox was a drug and alcohol counselor and recovery coach for many years after she retired and so it was decided that the money would go to Vineyard House, the Island’s sober living community.

Ms. Pogoda said that Ms. Leach’s kindness is a representation of the magic that occurs within the Island community.

“I think this community is already a very giving, loving and kind community,” Ms. Pogoda said. “And we all know from different stories that have happened, how people come together and help one another here in a way that doesn’t always happen in other places.”