East Aurora Advertiser

Column: A Christmas Miracle



So, I was headed for my usual monthly shift with the Friends of the Library (FOL). On those Saturdays a bunch of us collect mostly used books from people who are going through their shelves, hoping to find books they can live without. They bring them into the library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on designated Saturdays (announced in this publication’s community calendar) and we sort through them, clean up ones that need it, and put them into boxes. These get put into Rhoda Zucker’s car and she makes multiple trips to our storage spot where they’ll hang out until next June’s Book Sale. On any given Saturday, we’re talking hundreds of books.

That said, I parked close to her car because I had a heavy box of my own books and set them up for delivery. A bit later, I realized that my keys were missing. (At my age, this happens. I panic, look all over the house, in pockets, in dark spaces of the car, in the grass…oy. Eventually, they show up.) A few FOL folks went searching outside and came back empty handed. When I got home, more folks helped me look, to no avail. I figured I’d wait until Monday and fork over the ridiculously expensive replacement cost, which, according to several online sites, could vary between $90 and $400.

At about six o’clock, Rhoda called and asked if I had a Honda. Bingo! Sam Cosamano had my keys down at his car wash. What? I grabbed Emmett and off we went. And here begins yet another “only in East Aurora” story. This one stars Jennifer Abounader who works at Sammy’s.

Remember that Rhoda had been schlepping books for hours, in freezing rain and not one of us noticed that I’d left my keys on the roof of her car while putting boxes in it. When she was finished, she headed for Sammy’s and those keys stayed stuck to the roof all the way to the car wash. Jennifer was spraying down the cars outside and collecting money. As, she usually does, hours later, she walked through the garage to look at the blowers and saw keys on the floor. Imagine, at this point, how many icy, messy cars have gone thru the wash.

And how would they know whose keys they were? Well, Sam got on his computer and checked the security web cams, which he said are always on. He saw keys fly off the top of the car because of the blowers and they ended up on the ground where Jennifer had picked them up. The security cam also caught the make and model of the car. Because Rhoda has the unlimited car wash option, Sam was able to find her car and her name. He called her, she called me, and I got my keys back.

The following day, I went down to get the whole story from Jennifer with the keen eyes. What amazed all of us was that those keys stayed stuck to the roof of the car for hours, delivering books. What are the chances they’d fall off in view of a web cam?

I hugged Sam and Jennifer and bought the first of what will be many unlimited car washes. Say—that’d make a mighty nice gift for someone in your life—someone who loses things. Merry Christmas to all.

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East Aurora writer Phoebe Nicely is a retired teacher of the arts. E-mail her at phoebenicely@msn.com.

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