Random acts of kindness: Sixth-grader and mom were heroes in saga of return of the lost keys

Thanks to a sixth-grader's attention to detail and a mother's caring tenaciousness, our keys were found and returned almost two months after being lost.

On Feb. 4, while attending our granddaughter's orchestra concert at Pine-Richland's Eden Hall Upper Elementary Middle School, my husband parked along the entrance road, a distance from the school. Unknowingly to me, the keys in my gloved hands slipped into the snow when I exited the car.

For weeks we checked everywhere at home and also called and checked with the school office. No keys were found.

Meanwhile, during a snow thaw, student Michael riding the bus home noticed keys with a car fob lying alongside the road. He mentioned this to his mother, Dana, who called the school to alert them of this discovery. Several times she called, as Michael continued to see the keys from the bus.

Finally, Dana and Michael drove back to school one afternoon to personally pick them up from the roadside. An attached AAA tag stated that there would be free shipping to the AAA office if these lost keys were found. But when they tried mailing them, the keys were returned to Dana for insufficient postage.

Finally, Dana's call to AAA made it possible to connect the keys to us, the owners. On March 26, a day before our planned visit to the car dealer to get replacements, we were elated by a call telling us the lost keys had been found.

We are grateful to Michael for considering the observed keys important to report, and to his mother Dana for her time-consuming effort and thoughtfulness.

JANETTE KOHR

Ross

Driver's outlook received boost from man reviving her battery

Feeling under the weather recently after a day at work, I was glad to be able to get in my car to leave for home and get some rest.

It never occurred to me that my car would not start up, even after trying two or three times -- just putt, putt, putt. I was not sure what the reason was -- maybe I'd left the lights on. I was sitting there wondering what my next step would be and considered walking over to the car place in the shopping center where I was parked.

Just then, a man pulled his vehicle in front of mine. He got out and told me he heard and saw how my car was not starting. He offered to give me a jump because he had some jumper cables with him. Was I glad to see and hear this!

He guided me through the process and offered advice about giving it gas. Within minutes, my car was running again. He also recommended keeping it running for a while and getting the battery checked.

So thank you for your kindness, especially when I didn't feel well that day, and I'm sorry I didn't get your name.

When reading about other negative things in the news, it is refreshing to have the Random Acts of Kindness column in this newspaper to be reminded that there are many good people around!

STACIE SIEGEL

Bellevue

Busy gentleman stopped to aid woman who fell in parking lot

I read Random Acts of Kindness every week and never thought I would be the beneficiary of one -- but here I am.

I tripped and fell head-first in the Sheraden Park & Ride lot on March 24, hitting my forehead pretty hard. As I was kneeling on the ground trying to determine what to do next, a gentleman who had just parked called 911.

This Good Samaritan said he would stay with me until the paramedics arrived, and he did. What a nice thing to do. I hope he was able to make his meeting on time.

Turned out, thank God, that my only injury was a deep bruise on my forehead that is leaving me with a multicolored face and a bump on the forehead for a while. I believe I thanked the gentleman. If he's reading this and I didn't say thank you, I'm doing it now.

ANNA BLASKOVICH

Robinson