The Kindness Of A Stranger

To the Editor:

On Wednesday, February 7, I made a foolish mistake. Amidst the confusion of loading my infant, his car seat, and the diaper bag into my car, I placed an item on my car’s trunk and forgot about it when I drove off. The item wasn’t just a cup of coffee, or even my purse. It was a large manila envelope filled with extremely important legal documents belonging to my mother-in-law. I was supposed to deliver them to her. I didn’t notice that I had misplaced the envelope until hours later. In a panic I retraced my steps from my home on Currituck Road to the Danbury Fair Mall. I could not find the envelope.

When I returned to my home there was a message on my answering machine regarding a woman named Maureen Meyers. She had spotted the envelope and many papers scattered along Currituck Road. Thinking it was a child’s homework project forgotten at a bus stop, she pulled over in her car (with two small children inside) and went about retrieving the pages from muddy puddle after muddy puddle. Bear in mind that the documents had blown quite a ways down the road. Ms Meyers’ efforts did not stop there. When she found my mother-in-law’s name on some of the pages, she called information only to learn that the phone number was unlisted. Next Ms Meyers phoned the office of the attorney whose name was listed on some of the documents; she learned that the client’s son lived on Currituck Road. The attorney phoned my home and left us Ms Meyers’ phone number.

When I spoke with Ms Meyers she told me the events of the day and informed me that she had attempted to dry out the papers and reorganize them. She insisted on returning them to me in person because she was afraid that the wet pages would be further damaged in the mail.

I feel blessed that a stranger would go to so much trouble for me. I am comforted to know that a person as thoughtful and considerate as Ms Meyers lives nearby and I believe that her good deed deserves public recognition. Thank you, Maureen Meyers of Bethel. God bless you.

Elaine Lundquist

148 Currituck Road, Newtown                                    February 8, 2001