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Rhondor Dowlat
Amputee Virginia Reyes yesterday expressed pride over her grandson Leon’s act of honesty. She said she expected nothing less than him returning the wallet he found to its owner untouched, with all the money, cards and other important documents intact.“I grew up my seven children to not to take what is not theirs and I transferred that teaching to my grandchildren. I always told them if you sweeping and you see money, sweep around it and if you see something and it is not yours leave it alone, it is not yours,” an emotional Reyes, 59, said as she sat on her wheelchair at her Maloney home yesterday.Several years ago, Reyes herself was in a similar position after finding a wallet lying on the ground at the nearby Building 18. She took it up, searched through it, found a contact number and called it. The number was for the wallet owner’s mother, who lived in Tobago at the time.
“She was able to contact her son who met with me and I was able to give him back his wallet with everything in it. I remember how happy he was to get it back. That was my satisfaction.”In this latest situation, Leon, 14, went to a cafe at the Maloney Mall on Wednesday morning to purchase a snack. On his way back home he noticed the wallet on the ground between two vehicles. Virginia said Leon ran home and asked her what to do about it.
“I told him that it was okay to go back for it and once it’s there to pick it up and bring it for me. He got it and we went through it to see if we got any phone number but we got none, so that is when he and his uncle (a police officer) decided to take it to the police for further tracing on the name we saw on the identification cards.”
The wallet contained over $400 in cash, ID and credit cards.The Maloney police were later able to locate the wallet’s owner, identified only as Nigel from Morvant.
“My grandson was so happy that he got a $100 reward and he even wanted to bless me with it. Leon is such a blessed and honest child,” she said.Reyes said Leon lived with her from a little boy, as his mother lives in Moruga while his father lives in Arima. Leon is a Form One Five Rivers Secondary School pupil.
She said having her left leg amputated from below the knee last year and being in a wheelchair would not deter her from keeping her watchful eyes on all of her grandchildren. Reyes is currently awaiting a prosthetic limb she applied for through the Ministry of Social Development.
“I never wanted to depend on people. Before this I did geriatric nursing and certified myself to take care of children. That is how I took care of my seven children and now, grandchildren. I hope to get my prosthetic soon so I can move around again.”
A shy Leon meanwhile admitted he was afraid to even touch the wallet at first.
“I watched the wallet and passed it straight but I had to tell my aunt and grandma what I saw. I then told my uncle to take it to the police after. The owner was very happy and thanked me because he said he thought it was stolen for good.”
Leon said he wants to follow in his uncle Andre Modeste’s footsteps and become a police officer and promised to study hard to achieve this.