Javier Folgar was brainstorming ways to celebrate the first anniversary of his business, and decided to create a blog post highlighting all the wonderful events that happened this past year—and he knew just where to get the photos.
His mother Carmen had given him a special gift at Christmas last year. She created a scrapbook for the company that captured all his trials and triumphs—the special milestones that brought TOA Waters to where it is today.
“Let me tell you, this scrapbook meant the world to me! Not only was it magnificently laid out, but it was also designed by my mother,” Javier told GNN. “It’s something that she spent hours of her time piecing together.”
The business, which makes invigorating bubble bath products that “nourish the body, and smell amazing,” was only a few months old at Christmas. Carmen’s plan was to hold on to the scrapbook adding additional memories throughout the year and return it to Javier at the end of September 2021 when the company hits its one-year anniversary.
A few weeks ago, he drove to her home in Wayne, New Jersey, to fetch the book.
“I packed up my car and prepared to make the drive back home to Frederick, Maryland,” recalled Javier. “I carefully placed the scrapbook on the top of my vehicle. I didn’t want my luggage to damage the book in any way.”
He intended to put the scrapbook back into the car once everything was packed.
Well, that didn’t happen—and without even realizing, he drove off with the scrapbook on top of his car.
While stopping to fuel up his tank at a gas station, he checked his phone for any new emails.
“I received one new message from a woman I didn’t know. She said she found a scrapbook scattered across Valley Road. She wasn’t sure if it was mine, but she decided to reach out and give it a shot in case she could find the owner. That’s when I realized the terrible mistake that I made.”
The kind Samaritan tried her best to salvage the pages and offered to bring them back to his parent’s house.
“Within the next few minutes, my mother received a knock on the door. Alyssa Fiorellini was standing in front of her with the torn-up pages.”
Most of them were recovered, except for five, so Carmen and her husband proceeded out to search for the missing pages, and found three more.
“We were still missing my mother’s favorite page. It was a photo of her with a white bow on it. At that point, we thought it was lost forever.”
“About an hour later, my parents received another knock on the door. This time it was Alyssa’s mother. Apparently, she heard the story of how her daughter recovered a scrapbook from their busy road. She looked around and also found a page, and decided to bring it back to my parents.”
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It was the page Javier’s mother was searching for.
“I am still in awe of the kindness shown by these two ladies. I can’t believe a mother and daughter would go out of their way to return these precious memories to us—people they have never met before.”
“On top of that, I was blown away by the love of my parents. Even though I accidentally destroyed my mother’s work, my dad and mom took the time to retrieve the missing pieces.”
“When I think about it, it was very symbolic of how my parents have always looked after me, even as an adult. My mother, without hesitation, even offered to remake that scrapbook for me because she knew how much it meant to me.”
“There truly is kindness around every corner,” Javier concluded.
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