Lorraine Gilbert was your normal 30-year-old mother who found tiny pleasures in buying people’s used items at reasonable costs to save money on her monthly budget.
Some of them were not particularly appealing to the eye, which is why her husband, Harry, frequently mocked her and referred to her thrifting as a “crazy” fixation.
But Lorraine didn’t care what Harry said.
So when she saw a $100 sofa at a flea sale one day, she knew she had to get it. Its cushions were sagging, and there were a few paint splatters on the back, but Lorraine believed it would be an excellent replacement for her previous couch, which had springs peeking through the shredded fabric and was somewhat worn.
So she approached the old man selling it and purchased it before everyone else. “Your choice is excellent, ma’am,” he said, smiling as she handed him $100 cash. “I bet you have an eye for such things.”
When she asked Harry to help her get it home, he reacted angrily. “AGAIN? You went to your stupid shopping again?”
Lorraine was pleased. She stared triumphantly at the sofa, believing she had made a great bargain. But when Harry saw it, he taunted her during their journey home, telling her she had blown all of their money and labeling the sofa a “piece of trash!”
While moving into their living room, he aggressively pushed it into one corner, still outraged at the squandering of funds.
But then his attention was pulled to a small zipper hiding beneath it. He opened it out of curiosity to see what was inside and saw a pair of earrings adorned with glittering diamonds and pearls.
Harry laughed. “Your stupid obsession actually made us rich! Look at that; they look like diamonds! We can sell them and get a new car.”
“We need to take them to a jeweler and have them checked!”
“They would charge us, Harry!”
“Who cares? Think about the money if it’s real!” Harry didn’t want to listen to his wife. He forced Lorraine to accompany her to the jeweler, and it turned out she was wrong.
“Well, they’re real diamonds,” the jeweler declared as she examined them.
“$30 thousand, sir,” the jeweler said, smiling, “and that’s a minimum. Unique design, intricate touches, and let’s not forget about the natural pearls it bears.”
But Lorraine was thinking of something else.
“I’m going to return it to the guy who sold me the sofa, Harry.”
Lorraine’s decision upset Harry, but she didn’t mind. She returned to the flea market to hunt for the old man, but he was nowhere to be seen.
But as she approached the end of the street, she watched him enter an ancient house.
“Excuse me, sir!” she called out.
She smiled. “I was, and I found these in a compartment behind it,” she said, showing him the diamond earrings.
The elderly man, Peter, smiled and his eyes welled up. “Oh, dear! There they are! They’re my late wife’s earrings. I was looking for them everywhere. I had hidden it from my greedy sons, who sold almost all her jewelry for money. Thank you for bringing them back, but you know what? They’re yours now to keep. I believe it has finally found a new owner.”
That night at home, she told Harry about it, explaining that Peter was living alone in an old house with no one to look after him.
Harry felt terrible about his selfish actions and apologized to his wife. The following day, they visited Peter to thank him and make him an offer.
“We’re wondering if you’d like to move in with us. We have six children, but because Lorraine and I are orphans, none of them have ever had a grandfather. We would love to welcome you to our family….”
Peter couldn’t stop crying when Harry said that. “I don’t know what to say. My sons abandoned me long ago, and then here you are, welcoming me into your family. Thank you, children. God bless you both!”
Lorraine and Harry welcomed Peter home. Peter was pleased to become a grandfather to 6Â gorgeous children and join a loving family.
