It was a Thursday in Germany. My friend and I were taking an autumn walk through the fields.
As we neared the more populated area again, a little bit off the street, I saw a handbag lying on the ground. It looked like it might have belonged to a middle-aged lady - there was no one around.
Thinking it had been stolen and thrown aside, I picked it up. Maybe there were some papers left that the owner still needed. But when I opened it the contents seemed intact and undisturbed.
The papers showed it to belong not to a middle-aged German as I first thought but to a young woman of Turkish origin. (Let's call her Lale.) She appeared to live on the other side of town.
I took the bag home, and tried to contact Lale. However, she wasn't listed in the phone book. Now what?
A prescription inside showed her doctor's address. Even though it was late in the evening, I called their office, hoping to have them contact their patient. When someone answered the phone, I was happy. Unfortunately, it turned out they didn't have her phone number either.
I considered turning the handbag in to the police, but I was curious. Who was Lale? So I borrowed a friend's car and drove to her address.
Contrary to my stereotyped expectation of landing in a weird neighborhood the apartment building was actually in quite a nice area. I rang the doorbell but nobody answered. I returned to the car to write a note but then Lale's mom came out. She was so happy that I had returned her daughter's bag and she asked me to come up for coffee.
Now, for quite a while I had had wished to visit a Turkish home. Up to 4% of the German population have a Turkish background but Germans and Turks don't often interact or mingle. And here I was being invited to come up for coffee! As Lale told me, when she got home, she felt Turkish, adding that she kept being perceived as Turkish, not German.
She was so happy that I'd brought her bag back! It turned out she was supposed to go on a class trip to Austria on Sunday, and wouldn't have been able to cross the borders without her resident's permit!
Lale's mom invited me for dinner and I was so happy to accept! She served me Lahena Dolması - stuffed cabbage leaves – a delicious Turkish dish I had been wanting to learn how to make for ages. Lale's mom not only gave me her recipe (handed down from her grandma) she got out the cabbage to show me which kind to use and instructed on the right kind of tomato purée to buy.
After dinner I was served coffee and sweets, and got to know a little bit about the familiy's background. When I left Lale's mom invited me to come back and visit again.
How wonderful life can be if you just follow where kindness leads.
7421 Reads
- Posted by cf
- Jan 26, 2013
- Comments (16)
Readers Comments
heartwarmer wrote: It's so cool that when we show kindness to others it finds it's way back to us in some way! Thanks for sharing a great story and let us know how your cabbage rolls turn out!
sethi wrote: Thank for sharing and being who you are . Reaching out to the unknown and being committed to return the bag , you had a great experience plus impacted two other beings with your action .
MakeSomeoneSmile wrote: That was very kind of you to try to track down the owner of that bag. How wonderful the kindness everyone experienced from your journey too! :)
slinkycat wrote: Wonderful story! One act of kindness that came back to you instantly and made you a new friend :) thanks for sharing.
souper wrote: It does seem to be a universal law: the way we treat folks is the way we get treated, or put another way--what goes around comes around. Thanks for the heart-warming story. Warmly
jsmc10 wrote: You're such a great person to go to those lengths to return something to someone, thank you :)
denisemj wrote: How thoughtful of you to go the extra mile to return a purse. I'm sure that you received way more with the fellowship and a special meal you wanted to try and learn how to make. Thanks for caring and sharing :)
Thaata wrote: You could have easily returned the bag to the authorities and forgot about it. Instead you took the trouble to find the person and had a wonderful experience and made universal bond of love stronger. God bless you.
princessliz wrote: Oh cf, what a treat that must have been! :) thanks for returning the bag, and look how beautifully everything turned out! :)
genevieve wrote: I liked your little story.
