For the past year I have started out most mornings the same way…walking around my neighborhood. It has been a great way to stay active and keep my body moving as I continue to recover from the events of 2018. I love. I am amazed that I crave this every day now.
A few weeks ago I was out for my morning walk when I noticed an iPhone laying in the middle of the street. Being an avid Apple user, and picked it up to see what condition it was in. The screen was busted but still usable. I knew someone young had dropped it from the case that was on the phone, so I set it down on the curb so they could find it and started back on my way.
I was less than a block away when that voice inside my head told me to go back. I reasoned that if it was a young person’s phone, then I needed to give them every opportunity to find it and leaving it laying on a curb wasn’t it. So, I turned around, went back and got the phone, and then finished my walk.
The phone was out of power. So, I plugged it in and let it charge so I could try to ascertain where it might be from. When the phone powered back on my suspicions were confirmed. It was a young person’s phone. Not only was the case a clue, the background photo was of a young child’s cartoon. There was also a notification indicating that “mommy” needed to do something. I was now very glad the voice inside my head made me go back.
There were some other details on the notification I saw that led me to a Google search. Amazingly I was able to locate an address from the details In the notification window. I told myself that if I did not hear anything from a social media post that I had made, I would go over to that house the next day. I was uncertain if the address I looked up was the one, and did not want to give the phone to the wrong people, but it was a lead worth following if nothing else came up.
Later that afternoon, Marixa and I were working in the garage. We looked through the window and there was a black SUV slowly driving by our house. Then, it stopped in the middle of the road and backed up. The driver parked by the curb and then waved at us as she walked into the driveway.
“I know this might sound crazy,” she said. “My daughter lost her iPhone, and the find my iPhone feature indicates that it’s at your house.” Patience paid off.
“Yes,” I replied. “ I found one this morning while I was out on my walk. I brought it home to make sure it was safe so that I could find its owner. Let me go get it.” She expressed her gratitude and I went in the house.
One of the things that I learned from her is her daughter seven years old. With the screen busted like it was, there was a chance she might cut her fingers on the glass. Add extra iPhone from a recent upgrade that matched the model of the girls. I took it back out with me and showed my neighbor the condition of the glass. She told me she wasn’t worried about it as they had insurance on the phone. (incidentally, I also learned the house number that I had googled was theirs…)
I gave her the phone back, and then took my spare phone out of my pocket. I slipped the cover off of it and handed it to her.
“Please take this and use it until you get the phone fixed. This will help her use it without hurting herself.”
My neighbor thanked me, we said goodbye, she waived and drove away. It felt nice to do something nice for a young lady I did not know. It is also what I would have wanted someone to do for my son if the roles had been reversed.
I feel ashamed to say that I have never made much of an effort to get to know my neighbors. It is very easy to live my own life and never leave my house. There are amazing people all around. This was a perfect example of why I need to start getting to know them better.
I got this note on social media later that evening:
I want to be a good neighbor. I want to help people and be a bright spot in their lives. I think that is true of most of us. It’s just a good thing to do.
David Willis 