The Little Black Book

It started out like any other ordinary day for 27 year old Holly Jamison. Being a single mom of a rambunctious 4 year son was challenging enough but she was also in her last semester of nursing school which made her stress levels sky high. She always woke up at 5:00 am to get in a few hours of studying for weekly exams before her son Ryder woke up. Once he was up she had to do her motherly duties to get him and her out the door in enough time to drop him off at her mom’s house and be at school on time. One missed class or clinical meant she would be dropped from the program and she would have to start all over in order to get selected for the nursing program again.

Holly rushed out the door with Ryder in tow. She hurriedly strapped him in and jumped into the drivers seat to start her car. She turned the key and the car sputtered to life after the third try. She had already put the car in the shop for repair twice in the past month. She worked on the weekends to pay her bills and barely scraped by so another repair bill would mean she’d have to borrow the money from her mom again which heightened her stress even more.

Holly dropped Ryder off and was on her way to school when she noticed her gas gauge was on empty. She looked at her watch and saw she had just enough time to stop at the gas station and be on time to class.

She pulled up to the pump and started pumping gas. She was looking down when she saw a little black book laying on the ground next to the pump. She knelt down to pick it up while wiping the dirt from the cover. She quickly opened it to see if she could find a name or number in order to return it to the owner at some point. She didn’t see a name or number and tossed it in her book bag as she hopped in the car and sped off to class.

Holly had one break during the day where she would meet up with her friends from the nursing program to help one another review for exams. She walked to the canteen and slung her book bag onto the table as she slumped into a chair exhausted already from the information overload the teacher just gave them in the last class. Her friend Sheila was already sitting at the table and asked her if she was okay. Holly told her about her car trouble and stressed her concerns about the car not lasting much longer since it had already been in the shop twice for the same problem. Sheila sympathized with her and tried to comfort her friend while providing possible solutions to her problem when she noticed the little black book next to Holly’s book bag. She asked Holly if it was hers. Holly had forgotten all about the book and picked it up again. She told Shelia about finding it at the gas station and began flipping through the pages to see if she could find a name or number. She didn’t find a name but found a weekly schedule with dates, times, and places. She flipped toward the back of the book and found a photograph of an older gentleman that reminded her of her grandfather. She flipped it over and read the writing on the back which read, “To my beautiful daughter Sally… Much love Dad”.

Holly knew the book and most importantly the photo would be irreplaceable so she needed to try and find the owner if she could. She had an idea to make a photo copy of the picture and try to show up to one of the future appointments in the book despite her already busy schedule. She would want someone to try and find her if the book belonged to her plus it was the right thing to do.

Holly went home that evening and decided to go to the 2:00 pm appointment on the calendar in the little black book the next day. She had the afternoon off and asked her mom to keep Ryder while she tried to find the owner. She showed up at the local art museum at 1:45 pm with a large picture of the photograph she found in the book. She almost didn’t make it there because her car was getting worse and she had to crank it several times before she could get it to start.

She walked up to the entrance of the museum and held the photograph up showing it to each of the people that went through the doors in hopes someone would recognize the photograph.

Right at 1:55 pm an elderly lady approached the entrance and glanced over at Holly holding the photo. She did a double take and smiled at Holly. She asked her where she got the photo and let her know it was her father.. Holly was excited and pulled the little black book from her bag. The elderly lady began to shed tears and told Holly in a trembling voice she had been searching for the book for over a month. It was given to her by her father and she always kept the photograph of her father in it and carried it everywhere she went.

Holly was happy to see she found the owner of the book and felt a rush of emotion to know how much her efforts gave pure happiness to the little old lady. Holly let the lady know she needed to get back to her son and studying for exams for her nursing program. The lady told her she wanted to give her a reward for finding her beloved book and going through the trouble of trying to find her. Holly told her no to the reward that she would hope someone would do the same for her if the roles were reversed. She wished the woman well and told her she had to go pick her son up. The woman asked Holly for her address and phone number before she left so she could send a thank you note. Holly quickly gave it to her and went to her car and tried to start it. The car would not start after many tries. Holly laid her head on the steering wheel in defeat. She said a little prayer to God and tried one more time and her car started.

A week later Holly checked her mail and found a card addressed to her from the lady she had met the week before. She took the card out and read it carefully. The card had a beautiful rainbow on the front of it. The inside message read, “Dear Holly, Thank you so much for your kindness in finding my prized possession and returning it to me. There are no words that can describe how much it means to me. Please take the enclosed check and buy a reliable car for yourself and your son. I noticed you had a problem with your car when you left the museum the other day. An upcoming nurse such as yourself will truly be priceless to the patients you care for. My father was a surgeon and believed in helping the ones that chose the field of helping others. I wish you much success in your future endeavors and hope this money will help to take some pressure off your shoulders while finishing your schooling… Much love Salley”.

Holly slowly opened the folded check and saw it was made out to her in the amount of $20,000.00. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at the check. She looked up to the sky and thanked God for blessing her abundantly.