LETTERS: A GOOD SAMARITAN FROM KELSO

To the editor:

We want to publicly thank our Good Samaritan, Theresa LeGrand, who lives in Kelso. After spending the Christmas holidays in Cape Girardeau, we were on our way to Arkansas Jan. 1. As I hurriedly left the ladies' room at a stopover in Van Buren, my purse fell into a wastebasket. I checked my purse and thought it was OK. Seventy-five miles later, I discovered my wallet and my credit-card case were missing. Money wasn't the big concern. My driver's license, insurance cards and credit cards were.

Going back to Van Buren wasn't an option. The road conditions were rapidly deteriorating. We stopped to call the Current River convenience store in Van Buren where we had stopped. While waiting for use of a public pay phone, Mrs. LeGrand and Sam were conversing. He told her our story. She could see how distraught both of us were. She used her calling card and called for us so I could talk to the clerk at the convenience store. I waited for the person who had answered the phone to check the ladies' room for my missing items. I was told nothing I asked about was there.

Mrs. LeGrand then asked us to write down our name, address and phone number, and she shared the same information with us and told us she and her family were on their way back to Kelso and that she and her family would stop on the way back and check for my missing items.

Because of road conditions, we had to spend the night at Mount Vernon, Mo. We called Mrs. LeGrand from our motel room. She said she had everything I had lost. When we arrived home Jan. 2, we discovered she had left a message on our answering machine that the "mission was accomplished." She mailed my things to us. On Jan. 4 my belongings were here in Arkansas. Mrs. LeGrand refused payment for the long-distance calls and for the cost of mailing our package to us.

In today's world, we may tend to think that Good Samaritans are no more. Mrs. LeGrand proved that to be untrue. She said, "I believe the Lord had a hand in this." I answered, "Well, I was praying." Kelso can be proud of Mrs. LeGrand. She is truly a grand person.

SAM and SHIRLEY TRAINUM

Bella Vista, Ark.