What do a missing swimsuit and a 50-year-old photo of a newly-minted lieutenant have in common?

Both got lost and then recovered on a friendly trip to the library and the treasured gift of hoping for an uplifting outcome.

I was unable to make a color copy of a mugshot I had taken as a 2nd lieutenant en route to “jump school” and then to Vietnam the other day. (I was 21 at the time!) The Norristown library ran out of color ink and could only reproduce the photo in black and white. I was unable to get copies at CVS or Rite Aid – both were out of photo paper – and I turned to the library with my last hope only to strike out again.

I needed a copy to send to the local government in Conshohocken, PA. The borough is displaying veterans’ pictures on telephone poles and my son got an application for my inclusion.

I was about to call it quits when a wonderful librarian by the name of Loretta asked me to send a copy of the photo to her personal e-mail address and printed the picture from her home. She called and left a message the next day after I provided her with my cell phone number and I dashed over to the library after my water aerobics class and left my swimming trunks dangling from the back window to air dry ‘em. Little did I know that when I left the library with the gift of the photo, I accidentally lowered the back window and my trunks fell out. I did not notice this until I got home some 20 minutes later and my son – who is filling out the application for my veteran’s commemoration – advised me to return to the library and try to locate the bathing suit. He was hopeful that I could find ’em.

But what do you think were the chances of this happening? Not much I thought.

But, there they were in the middle of the street directly across from the library. A young couple on a porch told me that they saw the trunks fly into the air and get run over a few times.

But there was no damage and I feel I was twice blessed with the swimsuit and the photo. Good things can happen when you don’t give up hope on outcomes that seem to mystically turn out in your favor!