25 years ago I was stationed in Damascus Syria with my wife and then < 2year old Son, living in a 4th floor apartment with a balcony overlooking a pretty busy street. My son had developed the habit of tossing things off the balcony which necessitated a lot of trip down stairs to the street to try and recover the tossed item (usually pacifiers, snippy cups and a stuffed animal or two)- it was apparently a game to him, not so much for Mom and Dad. However, one morning I had taken off my VMI ring and left it next to my bed while I went out for a run. I saw him dart into the bedroom and before I could grab him- watched my prized ring sail over the railing. All efforts to recover it were unsuccessful. I have occasionally wondered who snagged it and how much they got for it at the souk? When we got home from that assignment, my Christmas present from my wife was a replacement ring- needless to say it has very rarely been off my ring finger since then! You can no longer read much of the detail on the sides of the ring, but it is one of my most prized possessions still.
