A little bit of chance
After her camera bag fell off the top of her vehicle when returning from vacation, Gina Patrick has it returned to her, with the help of a chance encounter and Facebook.
With U.S. 98 in Florida bustling with cars of vacationers leaving the beach for home this past weekend, a bag containing Gina Patrick’s Nikon camera sat in the middle of the road.
There was a hole in the bottom of the bag, brought on by its tumble from the top of Patrick’s vehicle, but the camera and an extra lens inside were undamaged. And this is exactly what Forsyth resident Kristi Green came upon while driving along the highway.
“She knew somebody was going to be missing it,” Patrick said of Green, a fellow admirer of photography.
While driving home, Patrick received a call from her daughter-in-law and was asked if she lost her camera — another family member also contacted her. An incredulous Patrick could not quite believe the bag was not in the car. Her daughter-in-law — who was contacted by Green on Facebook messenger — assured her she lost it and she just did not realize it, she said.
“We finally figured it out,” Patrick said of how they lost the camera bag, which had been put on top of their cargo carrier during a stop.
Patrick became worried about the lost camera, which had pictures of her granddaughter’s birth and her family’s Christmas get-together. But those pictures were exactly what helped Green — through Facebook posts and extended friends — get the message to two of Patrick’s family members.
Included in Patrick’s pictures was a Christmas card, which Green was able to zoom in on and find Rome listed on it, she said. Green knew somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody with a connection to Patrick’s family who was able to identify one of Patrick’s relatives from a photo. This friend of Green’s then used a Facebook post to see if anyone had a family member or friend who lost a camera.
And with the connectivity of Facebook, a camera found its way back to the hands of the owner.
“Facebook’s good for something,” Patrick laughed. “It’s just a crazy story and a miracle that it was not ran over.”
On Monday, Patrick went to Green’s home to retrieve the wayward camera, giving her flowers and a plant as thanks for her efforts.
“She was just a sweet, sweet person,” Patrick said, adding that she wants Green to keep Patrick in mind if she ever comes to Rome, so she can meet the people in those pictures.
The two took a photo which Patrick posted to the social media site, documenting the coincidental occurrence which led together.
“I know how precious pictures are,” Patrick said.