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In something less than two months, we find ourselves, our families, our communities, our nation and even the world in uncharted territory.

In that short amount of time we have been thrown into something so foreign to us that we are all having a lot of difficulty coping. We are in self quarantine, practicing social distancing – probably the catch phrase of the century,  wearing face protection, intentionally crossing the street to avoid oncoming neighbors and even dear friends and adjusting to so many more things we never imagined.
SO in these troubling times of uncertainty, of not knowing when we can see loved ones, where we can go safely or for how long we must live our lives this way, isn’t it nice to hear something good once in a while? Sure we hear all of the wonderful life saving stories our amazing health care workers are providing us daily, but there is so much more goodness taking place beyond what these truly amazing people are coping with every day.

Such is the following story. I believe it to be inspiring, hope you enjoy it and realize that there are still good, honest people out there – people who want to help and do the right thing, no matter how difficult it may be.

Here is a heart warming story – one to hopefully make you want to pass some goodness along.

One of our grandsons was the recipient of such a wonderful gesture that I am sure it was perhaps a life changing event for him – one that came at a time when we all need what my daughter called “a rainbow slapped onto a dismal day.”

It all began last October when one of our grandsons, having just turned seventeen, lost his wallet. In it were the usual things you find in a wallet: his driver’s license, his high school ID card, a debit card, a healthy amount of recently acquired “birthday” cash and over $150 in birthday gift cards, one of which he intended to use toward the purchase of a new guitar amplifier. Another thing not usually found was the tickets to his girlfriend’s school homecoming dance. All replaceable items, right?

The problem was that he didn’t just lose his wallet locally. An avid soccer player from Rockton, Illinois, who travels all over northern Illinois, he lost it over a hundred miles away in East Moline, Illinois. That day began with a crack of dawn two hour drive to East Moline, a sad defeat on the soccer field, followed by a stop in DeKalb, Illinois for a state band scholar guitar audition.  An exhausting day for sure.

Arriving just in time for the audition, he, a gifted guitarist, soon discovered that during the rush to get on the road that morning, he had forgotten to pack, you guessed it, his guitar. A rough day indeed for a young, impressionable man. It was a disappointing hour long drive back to Rockton but was about to get worse. It was then that he discovered his missing wallet. The hope was that he had also forgotten it at home in the rush to get out the door.  But that was not the case.

Now some things to take care of – first things first. He had some problems to solve and things to sort out. The first item up was what to do about the quickly arriving homecoming dance. Fortunately, after some phone calls and some even more understanding school administrators, he and his date were allowed to attend the homecoming dance. He, unfortunately without any cash, was unable to chip in for dinner or even drive his date to the dance. But the goodness was that he was able to go.

The next few weeks were spent hoping that some good Samaritan would find the wallet and return it but after a month or so that hope was lost and the wallet,while not forgotten, was thought to never be seen again. 

After that he tried to replenish the contents of the lost wallet, minus the gift cards. Amazingly, one of the most difficult things to do was to just replace the wallet. All men who carry a wallet, whether they are seventeen or seventy, have a favorite style of wallet – one that just feels right. It took three tries to find one worthy of replacing the precious lost one.

As Paul Harvey always said, “Now for the rest of the story.”

One thing I failed to mention was that he is also a junior in high school and is preparing for some pretty tough end of year tests, at home of course since schools are not in session during this pandemic.  His stress level, like most of us, has been rising during this time and had almost reached its peak.

Then a couple of weeks ago an anonymous package arrived addressed to our grandson.  The timing was perfect!

Without knowing what the package contained, our daughter gave it to our grandson when he seemed at his lowest and within minutes his world seemed to change.  He rushed from his room with the package behind his back and exclaimed, “Mom, do you realize what this is?”

He slowly revealed the package with a huge smile on his face – a ziploc bag containing his slightly moldy and damp wallet having spent the tough Illinois winter outside.  The sticky note attached simply read, “We found this while walking near the United Township soccer fields in East Moline, Illinois.”  No name, no return address. 

The cash, the gift cards, driver’s license and school ID were all still inside the musty wallet.  Even the homecoming tickets were there. 

Our daughter when writing to The Dispatch-Argus-Quad City Times hoping to find out who sent the anonymous package, said, “It is a great feeling that someone would not only send it, but would not have any expectation of recognition in return.” 

The moral of this inspiring story – There really are good, honest people out there. They are everywhere.  If you are the person who brightened our grandson’s day and perhaps changed his outlook on life, then we and our daughter, our son in law and especially our grandson thank you and wish you every happiness life can bring.

This has inspired us and we hope it inspires our readers to pass some goodness, any goodness, along.

Thanks for reading….

Paul