Local Girl and Her Family Devastated that Grandma’s Ring was Stolen

A granddaughter that had only her beloved Grandma's ring left after she recently died is beside herself after a home robbery. Now she is asking for your help in tracking it down.

In her own words, here is Alexandra from Lakewood's story:

"My grandmother and I were VERY close. Growing up, my dad lived in one of those neighborhoods where your cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings and basically your entire family lived on the same block. She and my grandfather relocated down to Florida for a few years then back up to Jersey after he was diagnosed with cancer. After his passing she moved back permanently with my uncle and then eventually settling in Whiting 7 years ago by herself.

Since she was just a few towns over we would frequently go out for lunches and dinners, shopping, usual grandmother, granddaughter stuff. She had suffered back-to-back losses in her immediate circle: her husband, her son, her brother, her sister-in-law, and her best friend. We knew she wanted to have a big party one day where she could see all her friends and family but she never thought it would be ACTUALLY possible.

On 4th of July 2017 we got together for our annual family BBQ and came up with the idea of throwing her a surprise birthday party. We sprang into action immediately after that. We invited everyone from family she saw all the time to friends that she hasn't talked to in over 15 years. We made all her favors and centerpieces by hand, booked a gorgeous ballroom, got her favorite DJ and, on September 15th, surprised the HELL out of this woman. I have never seen a smile on her face so big and last so long before in MY LIFE.

She danced, she drank, she laughed, she cried, she was living her ultimate dream. After her birthday, the next birthday to come up was for my youngest cousin Adrian, about a week and a half later. My aunt and uncle took him out to a restaurant and called my grandmother and asked her to come. She originally said she didn't want to go, but, after a little persuading, my uncle got her to agree to go.

After that dinner she mentioned that she was not feeling so well and thought that she was having a little heartburn or indigestion (which wasn't out of the normal for her so she didn't think much of it.) She popped a Tums, said her good-byes and headed home. On the way home while driving on the Parkway, she said she felt like her chest was getting heavy and that she was very short of breath. She managed to get on the phone with my aunt who told her to pull over while she had my uncle called 911. She kept driving to her exit, pulled off and parked at the EMT station right there and LITERALLY went and knocked on their door.

The EMTs were able to get her into the truck and get her to the hospital in Brick where we would later find out that she was in the early stages of a heart attack. She wound up having a full blown heart attack after arriving. Everyone rushed to her side as soon as the text came out from my uncle. Thankfully we live only 10 mins away, my aunt and uncle only 30, but my dad and step mom are about and hour or so away.

We later learned that she suffered a Widows Maker Heart Attack and that she had 100% blockage in her heart. If she didn't go out to dinner that night, no one would have ever known and she would have suffered and died alone in her home. Thankfully they were able to put a few stents in to clear it all back up. The doctor told us that he was surprised she survived because this is the heart attack that people just drop dead from but that she would be fine just needs a lot of rest and would be moved to ICU.

My boyfriend and I made sure to visit as much as we could. She was admitted on Monday night and we were there for all visiting hours on Tuesday. Tuesday she was awake, her normal self, talking, and smiling. I remember telling her, 'Okay, we're going home for the night but we'll be back as soon as we can. I'm going back to work tomorrow so I'm coming to visit right after.' She was adamant about me going back to work, she didn't want me to miss anymore than I needed. So I promised her that I would be going back and she was content.

Wednesday morning, right after I got to work, I got a call..it was my dad. I picked up the phone and I just heard him crying and saying 'Alexandra.. Alexandra please!! Something's wrong with Grandma, get to the hospital...Alexandra please... she's coding and I don't know what's going on.. her hearts not working.. Alexandra please!!!' He was still at work far away but knew I was closer to the hospital.

I hung up and immediately fell to the floor, hysterically crying and shaking uncontrollably I called Kevan, my boyfriend, and told him the same thing. He wanted to come get me in Toms River but something told me to make him go to the hospital. He needed to go to the hospital. My grandmother ADORED Kevan. She treated him like one of her own grandchildren, cooked for him, gave him presents for all the holidays, made sure to give him a "make sure you take care of my granddaughter" look/slap/or nudge every once in a while and even pulled him aside at a wedding and offered him her ring (the one that was stolen) if he were to ever propose to me.

My dad works in Newark so when he called he was already flying down the Parkway to get to her. I dropped everything, got in the car and booked it over to the hospital. We kept getting texts from Kevan asking how far away we were, that we need to get there, someone needed to get there ASAP. I was the first one to get there after Kevan. I remember getting buzzed in and the nurse sounded so despondent... running to her room I can still see the doctors, nurses and staff with this specific indescribable look on their faces as they were guiding me through the maze of nurses stations.

I turned the corner and saw Kevan, sitting in the hallway, with his face in his hands. Now I was really running. I got to him and the only thing he could do was cry... no words, no sound, just sobbing. Finally he sai, 'She's gone... Grandma is gone.' It wasn't registering in my head, like I heard the words but they just weren't turning into something logical for me to understand. I instantly collapsed and could only remember screaming, everyone running over to grab me a chair, tissues, water... I couldn't believe it. Literally a week and a half ago, she was partying it up, living, enjoying life... how was this possible?

I found out since Kevan was the first one to the hospital he walked in the room while the doctors and staff were trying to resuscitate her. Seeing my family arrive one at a time, one by one, and witnessing their reactions was one of the most difficult things I'd ever see. My dad was the last one to arrive.