A grandmother and the teen who drove miles to return her lost wallet after finding it in a parking lot have struck up an unlikely friendship.
Dee Harkrider, 61, is a grandmother of seven from Wynne, Arkansas. On Jan. 12, she lost her wallet in a Forrest City Walmart parking lot and didn’t realize it until she had driven to Palestine and received a call from her close friend, Elaine Keown.
Keown wanted to know if Harkrider knew a young man named Delivontae Johnson.
“He had found my wallet, and was trying to get in touch with me to return it,” Harkrider told The Epoch Times. “He was headed to my house when he saw my address on my driver’s license. That concerned her, so that’s when she had called me.”
Nineteen-year-old Johnson, an East Arkansas Community College student, said: “After seeing the name on the license, I searched it up on Facebook ... and let Miss Dee know that I had her wallet.”
However, when he didn’t get an immediate response to his message, he went through her photos, found Keown, and texted her to let her know about the missing wallet.
Johnson had hit a pothole in Memphis on the way to church 11 days prior and had pulled into the Walmart parking lot in his hometown of Forrest City to use the ATM en route to the mechanic. That’s when he spotted Harkrider’s missing wallet in a shopping cart.
“I didn’t know that my problem would become someone else’s blessing,” the teen said. “I just wanted to do something good and take the wallet to the owner myself.”
Learning that Harkrider was not at home in Wynne, but in Palestine, Johnson took a detour and drove over 20 miles out of his way to reach her. He called Harkrider on the way and met her in a CR Smalls and Company restaurant parking lot.
“He told me he wanted to make sure I got my wallet back,” Harkrider said. “Everything was in it! I was so grateful for what he had done, so I had a $20 bill tucked in my wallet, and gave that to him to show my appreciation. I wish I had had more to give him.”
She told The Epoch Times: “I wanted him to be recognized for what he had done, plus wanted to share the goodness of God ... I do believe God puts people in our lives, and in my case, it was for good that Delivontae came into my life ... at only 19 years old he showed honesty, compassion, and integrity for another human being.”
Since their meeting, the student and the grandmother have connected on Facebook and message each other to “check in.” Harkrider is grateful to Johnson for his integrity and to his mother, Rachel, for raising four children by herself with a strong moral compass.
She has also connected with Rachel on Facebook and hopes to meet her soon.
Harkrider said: “I think the biggest thing I have learned from this is that I, along with many people, are skeptical about our young people for we hear so much of the bad. Delivontae has helped restore my faith ... his actions represent how God can work through people, and we as God’s people need to step up and support and encourage our young people.”
The teen was equally moved by meeting Harkrider.
“One thing I learned about this situation is, if you do good, good things will follow you,” he said, adding, “There are two things I gained from this situation: respect, and a great friend, Miss Dee!”
