Man Finds Lost Wedding Ring 15 Years Later While Planting 'Lucky' Bamboo

— -- Forget having a green thumb while working in the yard — this man’s ecstatic to have a golden finger.

While planting bamboo in his backyard, Maan Moughawech, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, stumbled upon something he thought was lost forever — his 22-karat gold wedding ring from 15 years ago.

“Yesterday, I decided I wanted to plant bamboo in the corner of the backyard. While digging a hole to plant it, I saw something yellow and shiny in the dirt,” Moughawech told ABC News of his unexpected discovery. “I kneeled down to inspect it, and I instantly knew that it was my lost ring!”

In 1998, he and his wife, Savitree, both bought their gold wedding bands for their civil ceremony. In 2000, they purchased the home in Bloomfield where they still live today.

“We were renovating the house to move in, and I was doing some painting,” Moughawech recalled. “I took out my wedding band and gave it to my wife to hold, but she hooked it to her bangle to keep. We both continued working, and she went outside to do some work in the backyard. At the end of the work day, I asked for the ring back and she discovered that it fell out from her bangle!”

Completely distraught, they searched everywhere for the missing ring, even retraced Savitree’s steps in hopes of finding it, “but it was nowhere to be found,” he said. “I assumed that it may have been vacuumed up by the lawnmower.”

They eventually purchased a 14-karat replacement ring, but “It didn’t feel right,” he added. “It did not have the same meaning as the original ring. Once in a while, I would go around the property in search of the ring, but to no avail. So I gave up.”

Just when Moughawech least expected it however, there it was again, a shining prize in the soil brought back to him by some lucky bamboo that “definitely has a place” in his backyard now.

“I took my phone out to take pictures of it, then I cleaned it off and wore it back where it belongs, fifteen years later,” said Moughawech. “My wife was in complete disbelief.”Despite missing the wedding ring all these years though, “I am happy to say that 15 years later, we are still happily married.”