NOVI, Mich. (WXYZ) — When Maggie Segal's sister Maureen sent her a Facebook post a couple of weeks ago, she was nearly speechless.
"She sends me this picture of the charm bracelet. And I say, 'oh my gosh where did you find my charm bracelet?'”
It was Maggie's charm bracelet that she'd received on her 16th birthday from the family of her close friend.
Decades later, Maggie still remembers each charm and the story behind it; including a Cody High charm which ended up helping her get it back.
Years ago she lost it and assumed it was misplaced or at the very least, long gone.
Ania Doman found the bracelet nearly ten years ago in downtown Plymouth during the Ice Festival; how it ended up there, we still don't know.
TONIGHT on @wxyzdetroit at 6: 1 bracelet, 2 strangers, and 10 years. How one woman's unwillingness to stop looking made all the difference in reuniting a Novi woman with a precious keepsake. Get your tissues ready ❤️ pic.twitter.com/uoaaA04PrF
— Jenn Schanz (@JennSchanzWXYZ) February 21, 2021
Doman then posted about her discovery online, hoping to find its owner. She tried Craigslist first and then Facebook. For years, she posted, again and again, trying to find the charm bracelet's owner.
“There was one charm that I left out of the photo," Doman told Action News. It was the Cody High charm that listed Maggie's graduation year.
"I said what year did she graduate? And she said, '74 and it was like oh we got her," Doman told 7 Action News.
“The minute I saw it, I knew it was mine," Maggie said.
When Doman found the bracelet several years ago, she remembered she'd also lost meaningful jewelry of her own, and knew the pain Maggie was probably feeling. She said that's part of the reason she kept posting to find the bracelet's owner.
The two recently met for the first time, and Maggie was finally reunited with something that means so much.
“Every time I’d open a drawer I’d see this bracelet and I'd go oh gosh, she's out there somewhere," Doman said.
Surprisingly, Maggie doesn't even have a Facebook. It was an old high school friend who alerted Maggie's sister who ultimately helped connect the dots.
Maggie is taking the bracelet to a jeweler to have it polished up and to replace a clasp, so she can finally wear it again.
“I was so touched by the fact that anyone would ever be that sweet to keep looking after ten years," Maggie said. "That to be was amazing."