A Happy Ending

What a way to bring in 2011!! With a good news story!!

I already have a follow-up story to the last (not so good story) post of 2010. I accidentally mailed my ATM deposit. A deposit which held all of my 'Christmas Gift' money and other. Cash which would have paid a quarter of my monthly bills.

A most helpful employee of the store right by the mailbox (which also houses a 'post office' department) made all the calls she could on Friday, to no avail. Everything was closed down for the holiday long weekend. She left messages for me, but there was little else she could do. I would have to wait until Tuesday before the post office opened again.

Long story short, I was able to contact some employees at the Canada Post today. On a Sunday! The manager offered to retrieve my deposit from the mailbox today. All I had to provide were details about what I 'mailed' and my identification.

I asked my New Hero if I could somehow repay him for his kindness. I came armed with gift cards, cash ... anything to say 'thank you'. He politely declined but mentioned that there has been so much bad press about Canada Post lately, that what he would appreciate most would be a letter to our local paper. Done!!!

That is all good. It makes me warm, happy and extremely grateful. But it is the opportunity that 'life' offered me (almost simultaneously) as this was unfolding, is what brings me the greatest joy. The opportunity to pay it forward.

I was able to help a young girl back 'home'. She was stranded 150 kms away from home without a way back ...

As I was waiting for my own Hero, I had the opportunity to pay it forward even before I knew what the result of my own predicament would be.

This poor girl simply asked "Which way is (home)?" She was shivering, shaking and bravely wiping tears away from her cheeks as we spoke. I asked her if she was driving. She said no, she was walking. At that point she did ask if she could borrow my phone.

She called her mom and after she hung up, she told me her mom was mad. I replied that she was probably more worried than anything. It was at that point, I felt the need to 'mother' this young girl.

I had a spare pair of gloves to offer this girl and I suggested that she run in and buy herself a hot chocolate while we waited. And that I would drive her to the bus depot.

As luck would have it, her bus back 'home' was departing an hour after I dropped her off at the bus station. I bought her a ticket, suggested that she call her mom one more time so that she knew she was on her way home and I gave her enough money to buy some lunch while she waited.

She told me her mom said 'thanks', smiled and then she hugged me. I told her that I just hoped if it was my daughter, someone would do the same.

To think that an hour before all of this unfolded, I was worried about retrieving my lost Christmas Cash. And to find out less than 60 minutes later, the relief of having my bank deposit back in my hands paled in comparison to the coincidence which brought 'Summer' and I together at the same place, at the same time. I felt much more grateful to help a young girl back home, than I did to find what was lost to me for a few days.

Today was the best gift of the season. One good deed done unto me. And the opportunity to pay it forward.