We have a story to share from James Place Inn Bed and Breakfast in Freeport, Maine that I feel needs to be shared, especially during the holiday season.
All too often it seems that people want to share the bad news. Here is great news that keeps many of us going and keeping the faith. Guests were here with us this past weekend and one of them lost her purse. She was panicking, as any of us would. She revisited the stores she had been to, trying to find it. At long last, she and her husband gave up the search and decided to try a long-shot, calling the police department here in Freeport to see if a purse had been turned in. Low and behold, the police department had received a purse matching the description of our guest. They hurried there to retrieve it and found everything intact. The couple was so relieved, they asked for the name of the person turning it in so that they could call and thank them. The couple finding the purse live in NH and were here for the weekend doing some holiday shopping. They were glad the purse was back where it belonged. It was the talk of the dining room at breakfast Sunday morning (in addition to the snow) and made everyone feel so good about each other and toward others.
Fast forward 36 hours to a phone call I received here at the inn. The guests who had the purse returned to them felt like they wanted to do something for these honest and kind people. They decided sending a basket or money was not quite appropriate. Finding that the couple was recently married, they wanted to get them a gift certificate to come back to Freeport and visit, at their leisure. It was such a kind and generous “thank you,” and it seems the story needs to be shared. The underlying message is to pay that favor forward as you never know when you might need the same thing in return from a stranger some day. Throughout the holidays, and 2014, keep those random acts of kindness coming. We will all be better off.
