By Martha Chancellor
Austin

My husband and I were rushing around Austin Saturday trying to get a few things for this coming weekend since our kids are coming Friday to celebrate Christmas with us on Saturday. It appeared from the traffic in the stores that a lot of you were also out shopping in Austin at that time.

We got locked out of the mall at the Shopko end and our car was at the Younkers end, so we had to exit Shopko and re-enter the mall. I was juggling stuff, tromping through the snow and without realizing it, dropped my billfold. It contained my driver’s license, my two credit cards and my debit card. I have a habit of carrying any cash that I have in my pocket, not my billfold.

We went home shortly after that and were putting things away when my phone rang and it was not a recognizable number. I’m still surprised that I even answered it. A Spanish speaker was trying to tell me that he had my billfold. We both did our best to communicate and I finally got the message that I needed to come to his house to retrieve my billfold.

We found the house and there were a lot of people there. It looked like they were celebrating a birthday because there was a cake on the table. I was totally embarrassed and felt like such an idiot over the whole thing, but I think, I hope anyway, that I thanked them a lot. I gave the man who found it the cash that was in my pocket, not that much. They invited us to stay for cake, which we declined, but in hindsight I think maybe we should have stayed to get to know such good people. I think I was just too embarrassed and we did not want to barge in on their family gathering.

Anyway, I took it as a lesson from above that love is still alive and well around here even though we wonder at times. It would have been so easy to steal my ID and credit cards and throw the rest away. This man and his family made the effort to call me, explain, and invite me and my husband into their home even though they were busy with a family celebration.

Thank you to them again and Merry Christmas to all. The spirit of the season, kindness, not greed, wins out again!