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| Father Frost (Public Domain) |
A Kansas City homeless man named Billy Ray Harris recently decided that God's "Thou" meant him. He therefore returned
an expensive engagement ring to Sarah Darling after she accidentally dropped it into his "begging bowl" along with her
donation. End of story? Not
quite.
Today Good News! reports that this good deed then "went viral."
Bill Krejci, now Sarah's husband, went ahead and launched a Give
Forward donations page for Harris. As of
this writing, 7897 donations total $180,756. Sarah and
Bill have also developed a
close friendship with Harris and "hope to stay in touch with him in the long run." Bill Krejci has also been helping Harris to "navigate the paperwork to get his life back in order."
All this is surely wonderful news. But perhaps the best news yet is that Harris has been reunited with his family of origin.
When his sister Robin (who had been searching for her long lost brother for years) came across an article about Harris' good deed, she "was finally able to connect with him on the phone last month…" It had been "a decade and a half" since they last spoke to one another. Robin has since put Harris in touch with other siblings, and with many nieces and nephews ("some of whom he didn't even know existed").
Harris' life has already improved dramatically. He currently works as a roadie for a local jazz band and stays at one of the member's home. Once his identification documents are in order, Harris can open up a bank account and access the Give Forward
donations. At that point, he will be able to afford his own apartment plus family visits.
His happily-ever-after seems just within reach.
Resources
http://www.today.com/id/51048789/site/todayshow/ns/today-good_news/t/homeless-man-who-returned-ring-gets-over-k-donations
http://www.giveforward.com/billyray
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Frost_(fairy_tale)
Copyright March 10, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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