Teen finds gift of kindness in returned wallet
Published: December 27, 2005
Michael Cook was all ready for a big day of shopping Monday when disaster struck.
Cook, 16, had just finished eating breakfast with his father and sister at a restaurant in Salem when he realized that his wallet was missing.
The same wallet with no identification and $300 in cash and gift cards that he received the day before for Christmas.
“I figured someone who found a wallet with that much cash and no ID would just take it,” said Cook, a sophomore at South Albany High School.
So imagine Cook’s relief and surprise when he went home — depressed and angry at himself — to find a phone call from Mike and Dee Sanders saying they found the wallet with all its precious contents and wanted to return it. [Honesty Works! Real-World Solutions to Common Problems at Work & Home]
Michael’s father, Randy Cook, recounted the story this way:
On the way to the Original Pancake House on Commercial Street SE, Michael had his wallet out, counting his cash.
When the Cooks arrived at the restaurant, Michael forgot that he had his wallet in his lap and dropped it in the parking lot as he got out of the car.
Michael didn’t realize his loss until his family had finished eating and was on the road again.
“He was distraught. He just wanted to go home,” Randy said of his son.
Thankfully for Michael, however, the Sanderses already were hard at work on their recovery mission.
Because Michael had no identification inside the wallet, the only thing the Sanderses had to go on was a Christmas check that Michael’s great-grandmother in Southern California had sent him.
After a series of phone calls between the Sanderses and Cook family members in California and Oregon, the call came to Michael that his wallet was safe and sound.
“It totally blew me away,” Randy said about the phone call.
Michael and Randy drove to the Sanderses’ Salem home, where Michael thanked the couple profusely. Michael offered the couple a $50 reward, which they refused. [A Short Course in Kindness: A Little Book on the Importance of Love and the Relative Unimportance of Just About Everything Else]
Mike and Dee Sanders, who recently moved to Salem from California, could not be reached for comment Monday.
With the returned money, Michael bought a sweat shirt, shoes and a skateboard at Exit Real World in Salem.
“Of all the Christmas gifts my son could have received this year, the lifelong lesson that Dee and Mike have taught him about kindness, integrity and good will is the greatest gift of all,” Randy said.
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