She was a bride without an engagement ring at her wedding on Sunday after it went missing from the bathroom at Tim Hortons in uptown New West.
Last Saturday morning, Heidi Ellam stopped in for a quick coffee before a nail appointment across the street.
Before she left, she went to the washroom. She took off her ring and put it on the counter while she washed her hands - which she always does because she gets eczema on her finger.
Instead of putting the ring back on, Ellam left it sitting on the counter.
"I don't know if it's that I felt like I was in a rush to get to my appointment because it was at 11," she says. "I walked out without thinking."
Later when she was getting her nails done, she looked at her hand and realized it wasn't there. Panicked, she ran across the street to check the Tim Hortons washroom, but it was gone.
She talked to the staff, but none of them had seen it, and other patrons also said they hadn't seen anyone go in the bathroom.
Ellam gave her number to Tim Hortons' staff. She also called the police, but there is little they can do.
"I gave them the details of the ring. There's a microscopic number on the main diamond in the middle," she says.
Ellam's now-husband, Drew Ellam, gave her the ring when he proposed in December 2010. He bought it at Spence Diamonds.
Ellam said the ring isn't insured, and she's not sure if it will be covered through her home insurance.
Perhaps the most difficult part of the ordeal was that Ellam had to put on a smile for her wedding the next day.
"It was tough telling people what happened," she says. "It's hard because it means a lot to me. - It's gorgeous. We still haven't paid it off.
"Mostly it's sentimental. It breaks my heart, and I just tried not to think about it too much yesterday because I'm still sad about it, but I'm still grateful that Drew is so supportive about it. He understands because he's lost a ring before."
Despite the loss, Ellam said they had a wonderful wedding ceremony at Friendship Gardens in New Westminster.
"I couldn't have asked for a better day," she says.
Anyone who has any information about the missing ring can contact Ellam at 778-385-7641.
nhope@royalcityrecord.com
