Waitress at Walt’s Barbecue returns $1,200, and more

Waitress at Walt’s Barbecue returns $1,200

It took two days before Fred Smith of Batavia, Ohio, realized that the $1,200 in cash he had reserved for Christmas gifts was missing. “I grabbed my jacket, the money was gone, and I panicked,” Smith recalled. “I didn’t know what to do.” Desperate, he called every place he’d visited in recent days. But it turned out his cash was safe and sound at Walt’s Barbecue. Waitress Tricia Ayers had found the money in an envelope on a table and turned it over to her boss for safekeeping. “I wish I was a millionaire,” Smith said. “I would give her a million bucks.”

Couple makes it to New York's Grand Central on 10th anniversary

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A decade ago Kristy and Thomas Trumbley had longed to be married inside New York City’s majestic Grand Central Terminal, but the couple couldn’t afford the $10,000 required to reserve a date. On their 10th anniversary last week, Thomas surprised Kristy with a ceremony on a balcony overlooking the terminal concourse, where the couple renewed their vows. “It’s bliss,” Kristy said. “It’s New York. It’s an icon. It’s beautiful.” Her slightly less romantic husband told her: “This is your Christmas present, your anniversary present, and your birthday present. I am covered for the next 20 years.”

After 34 years, no hard feelings

As a high school sophomore in 1976, Jimmy Colson brought a 1923 Peace dollar, an 1897 Morgan dollar, and a 1903 Indian Head penny to school to show his friends. But the coins were stolen from his locker. Thirty-four years later, Colson found an envelope in his mailbox in Greensburg, Ind., containing the three coins along with an anonymous apology. “It says, ‘Took it out of your locker some 30 years ago.’ Signed, ‘Sorry, dumb kid,’” Colson recounted. “They’re forgiven. I would just like to have an ending to the story, know who it is and their mind-set, and tell them there’s definitely no hard feelings.”