On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 14:04:50 -0500, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

Bill wrote:

still in business, maybe they would have a record of the combination?

BTW, if I found anything in the safe, I would return it to the old man.


I'll second that thought.

Last year I bought a barely used Lincoln automobile from a repair shop
owner who was selling it for a customer of his, the son of an elderly
gentleman who'd bought it new and passed away shortly thereafter.

When I was putting my car papers in the glove compartment I discovered
two things "hiding" inside it:

A "Happy Birthday Dad" greeting card with an unused local restaurant
gift certificate in it.

A little leather bag containing a very beautiful and old looking rosary.

I called the place which sold the car to me and got the name and address
of the son, then mailed the items back to him that same day.

The next day we got a call from his wife thanking us and reminding us
that both she and her husband had worked for our family business some 15
years ago, then later they got hitched. (Small world, huh?)

The happy ending was that the wife looked around and found the keyless
door entry combination for the car and told it to me so I didn't have to
pay a dealer to fiddle a new one into the car's computer.

An Irish-Catholic guy I knew about 40 years ago said that his family
called stuff you found and kept which you knew belonged to someone else
"The Devil's host" and that hanging onto it would bring you continuous
bad luck. I choose to believe he knew what he was saying. G

Jeff


Jeff,

The happy ending of this story for me was reassurance that good people
are still doing good things. Those items, while useless to you,
probably mean the world to the surviving family.

You probably didn't mean to..... but you touched my heart with that.
I'll bet a year's salary that you did the same to the family. Thanks.