Headline: HELPFUL
MAN PROVIDES A SNAPSHOT OF HOW NICE PEOPLE CAN BE
Reporter: By Greg Freeman
Publication: ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tues., Oct. 9, 2001
Section: METRO, Page: D1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT
Tiffany Wachter
had only the best of intentions.
Wachter,
of Des Peres, was the matron of honor at her sister's wedding recently, and
offered to produce something special for the rehearsal dinner: a slide show
of her sister and her fiance. To put it together, Wachter went on a hunt-and-gather
spree, searching for all sorts of photos of her sister and her sister's husband-to-be.
"I got all kinds of pictures from his mom and from my mom and dad, "
Wachter said. "Pictures of him as a kid with Santa, his grade school pictures,
all of her growing up pictures, including a picture with her sitting on the
toilet wearing a sombrero -- you know, all those embarrassing pictures that
parents like to save forever."
Then
from her sister she got all of the pictures of the couple taken since their
first date. "I promised that I would take care of all these beloved pictures,
" Wachter said. "Needless to say, I was in possession of a whole lot
of irreplaceable memories and quite worried at the prospect of leaving them
to be made into slides."
But
made into slides they were, and with no problems.
At the camera shop, Wachter picked up all 80 pictures and slides, and thanked the salesman. She walked to her car with her screaming 22-month-old son in one hand and her purse, his train, his toy bunny and the envelope of pictures in the other. She placed the envelope on her trunk, fastened her son into the car seat, handed him his bunny and reached down to pick up his train, which she had dropped. After giving him his train, she got into the car and drove away.
It wasn't until
15 minutes later, when she reached her mother's home, that she realized the
pictures were not in the car with her.
"I
have never been so hysterical in my entire life, " she said. "I've
been in car accidents, I've even had an entire electric traffic signal pole
fall on my car when the truck turning next to me hooked the crossbar, but in
each of those instances, a strange calm came over me. This time, though, it
was sheer panic."
Wachter
put her son back into the car and retraced her steps, shaking all the way, praying
that she would somehow find the pictures. With the help of some friendly salespeople,
she scoured the parking lot, but there was nothing.
She returned to
her mother's home and suddenly got a glimmer of hope. Her name and phone number
had been on the envelope. Could someone have called her?
She
checked her messages at home and, sure enough, a man named Don "Russ"
Russell had left a message. He said that he had been across the street from
the camera store and saw her drive away. Two or three cars had driven over the
envelope, and he had walked over to see what was in it. When he saw that they
were old photos, he told her, he figured they were pretty important and she
would want them back.
"I
went home right away, " Wachter said. "When I got there, the phone
was ringing and it was him. He said he thought he had them all and told me how
to get them back."
Wachter
was thrilled. She thanked Russell profusely and gave him $100. "At that
point, I would have given him my car if I'd had a way home, " she said.
"I was that happy."
Later, at dinnertime,
Wachter's doorbell rang. To her surprise, it was Russell. He told her that he
couldn't take the $100, and handed it back to her in an envelope.
In
the envelope was a note that read, simply: "I appreciate your generosity,
but cannot accept the money. I do things like this in hopes that someday when
I need help, someone will be there. If you feel so compelled, donate this money
to a worthy charity. Thank you, Russ."
Wachter says Russell
has given her faith in mankind.
Wachter's
not sure if Russell is an angel. "But, " she says, "he's certainly
earned points in heaven as far as I'm concerned."
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