CHELMSFORD (CBS) — An 80-year-old Lowell woman thought she had lost her wedding ring forever when it fell off her finger while she bagged groceries. She was heartbroken because her late husband had given her that ring 59 years ago, but someone was looking out for her.

Jan McGuire has worked as a part-time bagger at the Market Basket in Chelmsford for a little more than a year. About a week and a half ago, she had a shock that stopped her cold. “I looked down and I only had my diamond. And I said, oh my God, my wedding ring went out. And I hadn’t heard it, so I knew it had to be in somebody’s bag,” she recalled.

That ring had been on her finger since 1960 when she married Don McGuire, who died 6 years ago this month. “And I felt that was all I had left. They said maybe you could buy another. No, I couldn’t. Not the same,” she said.

Jan was crushed. She posted about the loss on Facebook at the suggestion of her daughter. The plea for help was shared nearly 3,000 times but Jan was not optimistic.

“Everybody was praying to St. Anthony, but I lose so many things I was afraid he’d say, the heck with her. But he worked out. It worked out,” Jan said.

A few days later, someone returned the ring to customer service. “I was so shocked. I was so excited. I couldn’t stop crying,” she said.

Jan doesn’t know who her guardian angel is. “I’d love to know because it means so much to me,” she said.

Now she is wearing the ring securely around her neck and close to her heart. She said she’ll be taking it to a jeweler and have it resized so it fits snugly, forever.

“It gives you faith after all the things that go around. I mean a good feeling, a good Thanksgiving feeling.”