For those who could use a feel-good story (http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2013/02/17/16994285-homeless-man-on-returning-engagement-ring-i-was-raised-to-be-honest?lite) today:
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Last week, Sarah Darling of Kansas City, Mo., left more than a little change behind when she dropped a donation in a homeless man's cup.
The cup belonged to Billy Ray Harris, 55, who had been sitting in his regular spot on the sidewalk. He didn't notice that Darling had accidentally dropped her engagement ring in with the change until he packed up for the day.
"When I finally decided to leave I got on my bike and dumped the change into my hand and there was the ring," Harris told NBC's Michelle Franzen.
Harris thought that the ring, a diamond and platinum sparkler, was a fake. Then he had it appraised.
"It was really worth some money," Harris said. "Worth enough that he was ready to give me four grand right there on the spot." Harris thought of taking the money, but said that his grandfather raised him to be honest. He knew in his heart he couldn't take the money.
"I am not trying to say that I am no saint, but I am no devil either," he said.
Darling realized a day later that the ring was gone. She immediately returned to Harris' usual spot, and he was there waiting - with her ring.
"It was just such a feeling of loss when it was gone," she told Harris. "I am eternally grateful to you."
Nice to hear things like this still happen.
I hope she gave him a good reward.
According to the Daily News (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/homeless-man-returns-diamond-ring-woman-article-1.1263693), "....Darling rewarded Harris with all the cash she was carrying in her wallet...."
It says a lot about someone as down on their luck as that man--a homeless beggar who sleeps under a bridge. He is a better person than many millionaires are.
Somehow I'm not surprised this happened in a place like KC. Good for him. While we could use some saints, I'll be happy to have a lack of devils.
Sounds like she didn't need it.
Nice guy. If what goes around comes around, this guy is due for a lucky break. :)
apparently they've set up a fund where they're taking donations for the guy and have collected like $85k or so
^ Very cool.
It is like getting a medal....GET NOTICED! GET YOUR 15 MINUTES!
Quote from: Longdan on March 02, 2013, 12:03:37 PM
It is like getting a medal....GET NOTICED! GET YOUR 15 MINUTES!
Dude, you get noticed for 15 minutes every day here. What else do ya want?
It satisfies my every need. Except there are no real girls here.
You know what I mean..GET NOTICED, get on youtube, somebody will collect money for
your whateveritis. Get insulted on a school bus..just get noticed.
A follow-up (http://www.today.com/id/51048789/site/todayshow/ns/today-good_news/t/homeless-man-who-returned-ring-gets-over-k-donations) to the original story. Nice to see the guy have something good happen to him for his honesty & kindness.
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When Kansas City homeless man Billy Ray Harris returned Sarah Darling's engagement ring last month after she accidentally dropped it in his cup, it could have been the end of the story.
Instead, the experience has changed his life.
In the weeks since his good deed went viral, Harris has gained national attention, and supporters have raised over $175,000 for him to find a new home.
Something even more valuable happened: Harris is back in touch with his family, from whom he was estranged for the last 16 years.
Amid the media storm around the engagement ring episode, Robin Harris, Billy Ray's younger sister, happened to come across an article about her brother, and reached out to the local news station that first reported the story for help tracking him down.
"When I turned my head, I recognized the name, and I turned back around and I looked at the picture again, and it was my brother," Robin told TODAY.com. "I called and I said, 'that's my brother. I've been looking for him for 16 years.'"
Robin, who still lives in Texas where the family grew up, said she made repeated efforts to find her brother over the years, but had heard varying reports about his whereabouts, and was even once told that he had died.
When she was finally able to connect with him on the phone last month, the siblings had a long and emotional conversation to catch up on the last decade and a half.
"It was nice. I was crying," she said. "I was happy to hear from my brother. I told him I just couldn't believe he stayed homeless for so long when he knew he could come back. I would always give my brother a place to stay."
The two now talk on the phone almost daily, and Robin has helped him get back in touch with their three other siblings, as well as his numerous nieces and nephews — some of whom he didn't even know existed.
"It felt great," Harris told TODAY.com of what it was like to hear his sister's voice on the other end of the line. "I hadn't talked to her in so many years. I was totally excited and surprised."
He says he never stopped thinking about his family, though he had assumed he wouldn't see them again. "I'd been worried sick about my family since the last time I saw them," he said. "I totally lost contact with them back in the 90's...I was kind of down in the dumps, and on the verge of giving up."
Now doing some work as a roadie for a local jazz band, Harris is no longer sleeping on the street. He's been staying in the basement of one of the band members, and is getting his identification documents straightened out so that he can open a bank account to access the donations people have raised for him. He hopes to use the funds to buy an apartment and fly back to Texas to see his family.
"We're thinking about having a family reunion in July, so definitely then, but I intend to be there before that," he said.
Robin can't wait to see her brother, and hopes he'll consider moving in with her. "I just want him to come home," she said. "He told me he would, but he didn't want to be a burden on me. He didn't want to come if he couldn't help me."
As for the woman whose ring he returned, Darling says she and her husband Bill Krejci have become close to Harris, and hope to stay in touch with him in the long run. Krejci, who launched the donations page for Harris, regularly has dinner with him and has been helping him navigate the paperwork to get his life back in order.
"If he goes back to Texas it will be harder, but I would like to stay in contact every once in a while and check in with him," Darling told TODAY.com.
While all the attention has been a little exhausting, Harris says he's excited about what the future holds, and thankful the experience has led him back to his siblings.
"That's the main thing," he said. "To me, that's the best thing to come out of this whole deal."