Lost and Found.

Lost and Found.

Walking down Bridge Street one day a young man found a wallet that someone must have dropped.  He picked it up and decided to look inside to see if there might be any identification in it.  The wallet contained a €5 note and a crumpled envelope that looked very old and battered.

The only bit of information the young man could find was a return address on the back of the envelope.  He opened the envelope and found it contained a letter dated October 1950, over sixty years ago.

The letter appeared to be written in a beautiful flowing hand and the young man assumed it had been written by a woman. As he read what was written he was to be proved right.  The letter was to a man called Michael and said that the writer of the letter could not see him anymore as her parents had forbidden it. It ended with the words, Dearest Michael, please forgive me. I will love you forever. It was signed Mary.

The young man thought it was a beautiful letter and for some reason he found difficult to understand he decided there and then that he should attempt to find Michael and return it to him.  How was he even going to start? All the young man had to go on was the name Michael and a return address on the back of the old envelope. He decided to call in to the Post Office and ask for help,

“I’ve an unusual request to make” he said to the person behind the counter, “I’m trying to locate the owner of a wallet that I found. Is there any way you can tell me if there is a phone number for an address that is on a letter in the wallet?”

The person behind the counter said that they would have to ask the manager.  The manager emerged from the back of the Post Office and asked why the young man had not handed the wallet into the Gardaí.  The young man explained what had happened and why he was trying to locate the owner.

“Well, this is extremely unusual, wait here for a few minutes and I’ll see what I can do” the manager replied.

A few minutes later the manager came back out and spoke to the young man,

“There is a phone listing for that address, however I can’t just give you the number. What I can do is call the number for you and ask if they will speak to you”

The young man waited and soon the manager called him over to the end of the counter and told him that there was a person on the phone who wished to speak to him. He asked the woman on the other end of the phone if she knew anyone by the name of Mary who lived at her address.

She gave a little gasp and said, “We bought our house from a family who had a young daughter called Mary, but that was over thirty years ago”

“Do you know where they moved to?” asked the young man,

“Mary’s mother moved into a nursing home years ago, maybe they have an address for Mary” said the woman on the other end of the phone.

She gave the young man the name and number of the home and he made a call.  They told him that the old lady had passed away some years ago but they did have a phone number for Mary and if he wished to phone it he might be able to reach her there.  He thanked them and phoned the number.  A person answered the phone and after explaining his reason for calling he was told that Mary was now living in a nearby nursing home.

The young man began to think that maybe this journey he was on was a little foolish, what on earth was he thinking. It was only an old wallet containing €5 and a crumpled up letter from sixty years ago.  However, as he had come so far he would go the rest of the way.

He phoned the nursing home and explained his quest and was told that Mary was still living there. He was given permission to visit her and he drove over to the home.  A nurse took him up to see Mary; she was on the third floor, sat in the day room watching TV.  He introduced himself and showed her the letter from within the wallet.  The second she saw it, she recognised it as the letter she had written all those years ago.

“Young man, where did you get this? This is a letter that I wrote many years ago to someone that I was deeply in love with” she said,

She stared off into the distance with a faraway look in her eyes,

“Michael Duffy was a wonderful, kind man. I think of him often during the lonely days I sit here.  You know, I still love him and wonder what might have been.” She continued,

“Did you ever marry” asked the young man.

“No” she said, “I could never meet someone that matched up to Michael”.

The young man said goodbye and he left her sitting there looking into that faraway place where memories dwell, smiling to herself.  As he stood waiting by the elevator, the nurse who had introduced him to Mary asked him,

“Was Mary able to help you?”

He told her that she had mentioned Michael’s last name but he was going to leave it for a while as he had already spent a great deal both in phone calls and time trying to find the owner of the wallet. He took the old wallet out of his pocket and showed it to her.  The nurse gave a little gasp and said,

“You are never going to believe this but I’m sure that looks just like Mick Duffy’s wallet. I’d know it anywhere; he’s always losing that thing.  I must have found it myself at least half a dozen times” she said,

“Who’s Mick Duffy?” the young man said and his hand began to shake,

“He’s one of our oldest resident’s, he lives on the fourth floor. He must have lost it when he went on one of his visits into town”.

The young man thanked the nurse and quickly went to the manager’s office. He told her what the nurse had said and they went up to the fourth floor.  They found Michael Duffy sat in his room reading a book.  The manager asked him if he had lost his wallet again. Michael looked at them with a questioning look and reaching into his jacket pocket he said,

“Oh dear, It seems to be missing again” he said

“This young man found a wallet in town and he wonders if it could be yours” replied the manager,

The young man handed the wallet to Michael and the minute he saw it he smiled and said,

“Yes that’s mine. It must have fallen out of my pocket, I’m always losing it” he smiled. “Can I give you a little something for being so honest?”

“No thank you” said the young man, “But I must tell you something. I read the letter that was in the wallet because I was looking for an address to help me find out who owned it. Please forgive me”

“You read my letter?” said Michael,

“Yes I did and I’m sorry for intruding into your life but I also think I know where Mary is”

Michael grew pale and began to shake. “You know where she is?” he said. “Where, how is she, is she still as beautiful as she was? Please you must tell me” said Michael.

“She is fine and yes, she is still as beautiful as you remember her” the young man said softly.

Michael smiled and said “Can you tell me where she is so I can phone her” he reached over and held the young man’s hand, “You know, I was so in love with Mary but when that letter arrived it broke my heart. My life ended that day and I never married. I loved her then and I love her now. In fact I never stopped loving her”.

“Mr Duffy, will you please come with me, I have something to show you” said the young man,

They took the elevator down to the third floor. Going into the day room the manager softly said,

“Mary, do you know this man”

“Mary, do you remember me, It’s me It’s Michael”

She looked over and suddenly she gave a little start,

“Michael, Oh my god, Michael is that you?” she began to cry.

The young man and the manager left the room  as the old couple embraced. Both the manager and the young man were both trying to hold back their own tears.

“God works in mysterious ways” said the manager.

About a month later the young man was sat at home when he received a phone call from the nursing home.

“Can you leave a date free next Saturday to attend a wedding?” he was asked, “Mary and Michael are getting married and they would like you to be the best man”,

It was a beautiful wedding all the staff and residents from the home attended the celebrations. Mary wore a lovely lilac dress and Michael wore a dark blue suit. They looked like two eighty year old teenagers, nervous yet smiling happily.

It was a perfect ending to a love affair that had spanned the years and made all his searching worthwhile.

So who knows where a journey may take you when you begin to search for that lost wallet?