As a parent who’s been snap-happy since the birth of her child, I can relate to the anguish that Ann Perry-Smith of Vancouver Island must have felt when her car was broken into and all its contents stolen – including a diaper bag, two cameras, and a very special roll of undeveloped film. On that roll was almost every picture that existed in the world of Ann’s newborn baby girl. (If you’re under the age of 30 and you’re wondering what words like “roll” and “film” mean, just imagine someone snitching your iPhone before you’ve had a chance to back up all your favourite selfies.)
The theft was in 2004, and Ann had long assumed those pictures were gone for good. That was until a couple of weeks ago, when the photos turned up… on Facebook, of all places. “I realized right away, these are the pictures that had been lost almost nine years ago,” Ann told a reporter. “I was just shocked, and floored.”
How’d they get there? The pics had been posted by another woman, Helen Maslyk, who found the old film canister at the side of the highway on the May long weekend, after her car broke down. Helen developed the pictures out of curiosity, realized these were someone’s precious moments, and posted them on Facebook, hoping they’d be recognized.
They were. Ann quickly got in touch, and Helen returned the photos, much to Ann’s delight.
You can bet the women are now Facebook friends. “We all love a good story, kindness to strangers, and we don’t hear enough of it,” Helen said in the CBC news article.
Say it with me, young ’uns: they’re called ne… ga… tives.
50 Good Deeds 