Lost and found

“Every Friday I pick up my 4-year-old grandson, Carter, from preschool and take him to the local diner for lunch. We chat and he pretends to feed fries to Leo, his beloved bow tie–wearing teddy bear.

“One day, I discovered we had left Leo behind. With Carter in tears, we rushed back to the diner, but Leo was gone. I showed the staff a photo of Leo on my phone, but no one had seen him. Devastated, I left my number and prayed a kind soul would return the bear to a heartbroken little boy.

“A week later I was scrolling through Facebook when a familiar face popped up in my feed…it was Leo—bow tie and all! Someone had snapped his photo and posted it with the words, ‘This sweet teddy was found outside Clarkton Shopping Center. Please share so he can be reunited with his best buddy.’ Tears filled my eyes when I saw the post had been shared hundreds of times. I responded to the post, and within hours Carter was hugging his bear once more. As I thanked Peggy, the online Good Samaritan, it dawned on me just how contagious kindness truly is.” —Kate Dillon, 53, Clark, NJ