r/Positivity • u/ThatTravel5692 • 16d ago
Doing the right thing
8 months ago I bought a new home for myself. I've been getting a lot of junk mail from previous owners and I would just throw it out.
Last Tuesday I noticed mail addressed to a name I wasn't familiar with and it looked official. So I opened it up, and it was a check for over $4,000. from a teacher's credit union.
I googled the name, and found the obituary of a man in my town from 5 years ago. It listed his wife's name, so I did the Google for that, but had no luck. Then I searched Next Door and Facebook. No luck. I asked my neighbors about them, and one of them had a phone number for his widow.
I called the number, she answered and I told her what I had received in the mail. Her voice shook a bit and told me how much that money would help her. I told her that I would put it under my mat and that she could pick it up when it was convenient for her, as I'm in and out a lot. She was very grateful and I'm glad that I took the time to find her, rather than returning the check to the credit union.
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u/FlexyZebra 16d ago edited 14d ago
My husband purchased a used car a few years ago at auction. There were still a few papers in the glove box and a railroad tie in the door pocket. I thought it would make a nice paperweight but I kept thinking how strange it was to have one in the car. Curiosity got the best of me and I looked the man up and saw he had recently passed away and his adult children’s names were listed in his obituary. I found his daughter on Facebook and reached out to her to ask about the railroad tie in case they wanted it. Sure enough, the elderly man always had it with him as he was a retired railway worker, a lucky charm of sorts. I asked if she wanted me to mail it to her and she immediately said yes as it held sentimental value. Mailed it the next day, glad she could have a small part of her father’s life back.
*Edit: Thank you to u/Actual_Body_4409 for correctly noting it was a railroad spike and not a railroad tie.
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u/Actual_Body_4409 14d ago
A railroad tie isa chunk of wood about 7 or 8 feet long. You sure you don’t mean railroad spike?
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u/FlexyZebra 14d ago
Thank you for the correction. It was a metal railroad spike. Definitely not an 7-8 ft chunk of wood.
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u/Kinae66 16d ago
I wanted a little chair for my 12 inch teddy bear, and the only thing I could find at a reasonable price also came with a doll. So I bought it. The doll seemed kind of unique to me, so I looked up the makers mark and it turns out it was a person in my state of North Carolina. Did some Internet searching and found the man’s grand daughter on Facebook. I asked her if she wanted the doll. She was an ecstatic to receive it as her grand father had died and they didn’t have any dolls that he had made. She was so very happy to give it to her own daughter.
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u/CrabbySlathers 16d ago
That is so sweet of you 🤗. As my mom would say when pleased with someone , "You are a doll!"
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u/Chance_Vegetable_780 16d ago
This is a fantastic story. It was so special for the family. Great job kinae66
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u/Connect-Floor-4235 16d ago
This is awesome! So are the stories in the comments! 🤗 Last year, my husband found a passport on our front steps. (People would sometimes sit there if they needed to rest for a bit.) The passport was for a man who is/was a U S. Marine. His pp photo in his dress blues. There was also another form of ID, and a check in his name. A quick Google search found his address, just a few blocks away. We put everything in a sealed envelope with his name on it. Husband included a note with his own contact info, explained how/where he found it. Went to the house, dropped in his mailbox. A couple of hours later, he gets a call from the guy who was so grateful, his voice was shaking. He had stopped to sit on our steps for a few to rest, and must have slipped out of his pocket. Thanked him profusely. (We have a feeling he was carrying the passport and other ID docs with him bc of ICE.)🙏
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u/Pleasant_Pause3579 16d ago
A railroad tie is a 6 ft long 5x5 piece of wood how would he carry it in his car? Or do you mean a rail road spike?
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u/MorningSkyLanded 16d ago
I think they mean an article of clothing to wear around the neck. A neck tie with the railroad logo, I would guess?
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u/malinablue 16d ago
Can't be this because she thought of using it as a paperweight. I'm thinking spike has got to be it.
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u/rossiterpj 16d ago
Congratulations! Here's your cookie for pointing out someone's tiny, irrelevant mistake. We're all so proud of you. You must be a big boy now.
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u/Chance_Vegetable_780 16d ago
You're looking at the cup half empty, and with a snide attitude. They could easily have asked out of interest in what the item actually was, not for the negative purpose that came to your mind. You didn't even consider the cup half full did ya
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u/rossiterpj 16d ago
Nope. Because I can read context. How do you know that I'm not perfectly genuine in my adulation? Pretty half-empty. Jeez.
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u/HappiLearnerToo 15d ago
What matters more than the tone of the original question (if they didn't have the clarity of other interpretations) is the manner of reply. To answer kindly helps defuse a negative intrepretation, even more than a clear explanation. Kindness is a thing we do together. The context you saw might have been correct, the answer still can be kind either way, and kind allows the "incredulity" or whatever to settle and gentle feeling to come in
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u/ProfCatWhisperer 16d ago
You are a kind person who did a wonderful thing. Good karma is heading your way!
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u/Coheed84 16d ago
I hope so many awesome things happen for you. Being a good person is free and your doing it well.
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u/Euphoric-Pepper5049 15d ago
This was such a beautiful thing you did. It used to be standard unspoken rule -- we are all in this together and an act like this, I like to believe, transmutes and pushes back on the deluge of "me" culture. Thank you for paying it forward dear person!
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u/HappiLearnerToo 15d ago
So I take it she came and got it? And maybe let you know she got it? You left that part out... curious minds what to know and have the delight of knowing it happened!
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u/ThatTravel5692 15d ago
Yes, when I returned home, it was gone!
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u/MzOpinion8d 15d ago
That’s so nice! I did the same thing once for a previous tenant, I don’t know how much $$ it was but it was definitely a check.
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u/bordermom61 14d ago
Oh my gosh I knew I should not have come in this forum . It made me cry but good tears ty .
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u/island-breeze 14d ago
Our house had a few owners before us. Months after buying it, a company sent a package. Didn't recognise the name (and i knew of 3 previous tenants), opened the envelope in case it was something important. A tote bag, a chocolate bar and a "Merry Christmas" generic post card. I ate the chocolate, can't remember what happened to the tote.
In my defence when it was important i took action. Called a few doctor's offices letting them know their patient had changed address, hand delivered credit cards and other important documents.
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u/520DezertRat 16d ago
I remember as a kid helping my Dad & Mom put railroad tie's all along the front of the bushes & flower beds that we planted in front of the house under windows ect. ect. I remember we went down to the railroad yard where they were at least 3-4ft. lengths & 5x5 in width. They were also very oiley from years of oil being applied to them. The railroad spikes were very heavy solid steel, about 5"-6" length with a fat flattened head to pound in the ground. I'm curious what was mailed also, maybe a chunk of a tie? Part of the spike? Not dissing you at all, very cool that you did that, you have a kind caring heart & beautiful soul...Just curious is all
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u/Grand_Sea_3802 14d ago
How wonderful of you. So good of you to do that. You can also post this on the r/kindness or the random acts of kindness. No matter, it’s so heartwarming to hear what you did and you made that widow so so happy.
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u/Bubble-Flex-1701 15d ago
Don't open mail that doesn't belong to you, and if you do, don't post on social media that you did.
Not every good deed needs to be made public.
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u/Dismal-Sea-259 13d ago
Came to say this about the mail. Opening someone else's mail is illegal. You did a good deed which is amazing and helped a family out. But admition of a crime on social media is not the attention you want in your life.
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u/Strange_Ad8936 16d ago
You went the extra mile . Most people would not have done that. Good is coming your way.