What Was Once Lost, Now Is Found

On Sunday night, a girl from my floor knocked on my door. She was checking around each of the rooms to see if anyone had thrown away a black purse in the floor's trash can.

Guilty as charged. That morning I'd thrown away a broken, grimy purse. My room mate last year had spotted the giant, sling purse abandoned on the floor under a "FREE" sign. She presented it to me as a good option, though the zipper was broken.

Though I didn't like it at first, I got more compliments on the secondhand, black leather purse than for any other accessory I've ever worn. So naturally, it grew on me.

But after a year of almost daily use, after it had endured a nasty spill of Vault soda, after the lining was in tatters and the foam liner disintegrated, and after the strap snapped under the weight of a Spanish dictionary, I decided it was time to retire ol' Faithful.

Ever so fortuitously, this girl had discovered the refuse, decided to cut up the purse (for God knows what reason).

"I have something for you," she told me when I said it was my purse. "I even wrapped it up for you."

She left, then returned with a sheet of paper folded into a squarish makeshift envelope.

"One time I lost my purity ring," she said, her voice nearly shaking with anticipation as she handed me the package. "And I remember finding it a long time later, and I was soo happy."

I took the paper, befuddled. Could my old True Love Waits ring be in this tiny packet? It couldn't be true. Or maybe that gorgeous faux-diamond earring I lost?

I unfolded the packet...

And I think her face dropped when she saw the look on my face. It was beautiful -- a single pearl mounted in gold and surrounded by tiny diamonds, at the end of an elegant gold chain. But I didn't recognize this gorgeous necklace.

What a treasure, though. What a stunning story, that what was once good only for the trash was salvaged and yielded a pearl.

I don't know if I'll be able to find the owner of the heirloom. But I'm sure her joy over the rescued, long-lost jewelry would be greater than mine. So I think I'm going to look for her.