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The Wallet Part 2
The Wallet Part 1
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This whole thing was stupid, I thought to myself.
Why was I making such a big deal over finding the owner of a wallet
that had only three dollars and a letter that was almost sixty
years old?
Nevertheless, I called the nursing home in which Hannah was supposed
to be living and the man who answered the phone told me, "Yes,
Hannah is staying with us."
Even though it was already 10pm, I asked if I could come by to
see her.
"Well," he said hesitatingly,
"if you want to take a chance, she might be in the day room
watching television."
I thanked him and drove over to the nursing home.
(Read Related : Thank
You Messages)
The night nurse and a guard greeted me at the door. We went up
to the third floor of the large building. In the day room, the
nurse introduced me to Hannah. She was a sweet, silver haired
old timer with a warm smile and a twinkle in her eye. I told her
about finding the wallet and showed her the letter.
The second she saw the powder blue envelope with that little flower
on the left, she took a deep breath and said, "Young man,
this letter was the last contact I ever had with Michael."
She looked away for a moment and looked deep in thoughts.
Then, she said softly, "I loved him very much. But I was
only sixteen years old at the time and my mother felt I was too
young. Oh, he was so handsome. He looked like Sean Connery, the
actor."
"Yes," she continued.
"Michael Goldstein was a wonderful person. If you should
find him, tell him I think of him often. And," she hesitated
for a moment, almost biting her lip,
"tell him I still love him. You know," she said smiling
as tears began to well up in her eyes,
"I never did marry. I guess no one ever matched up to Michael..."
(Read Related : Marriage
Poems)
I thanked Hannah and said goodbye.
I took the elevator to the first floor and as I stood by the door,
the guard there asked, "Was the old lady able to help you?"
I told him she had given me a lead.
"At least I have a last name. But I think I'll let it go
for a while. I spent almost the whole day trying to find the owner
of this wallet."
I had taken out the wallet, which was a simple brown leather case
with red lacing on the side.
When the guard saw it, he said, "Hey, wait a minute! That's
Mr. Goldstein's wallet. I'd know it anywhere with that right red
lacing. He's always losing that wallet. I must have found it in
the halls at least three times."
"Who's Mr. Goldstein?" I asked as my hands began to
shake.
"He's one of the old timers on the eighth floor. That's Mike
Goldstein's wallet for sure. He must have lost it on one of his
walks."
The Wallet Part 1
| 2 | 3
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