Two good men

Two good men

I found this story on a diamond website I looked at after posting that "ziamond" comment earlier today. It's from The Diamond Guy's website. A lot of good info. This story made me tear up at work, which is always a little awkward. Here's the story...

Story III: The Shoe Box

Mr. Schwartz stood all of 5 feet 4 inches tall. By the age of 64, he had been married 42 years, had two daughters and four grand children. He had been an industrial engineer (garbage collector) since he dropped out of high school to marry his childhood sweetheart that would soon be having their first child. I still remember the first day I met him. I commented on his "Members Only" jacket that had been all the rage in the 70s.

"Oh, this old thing, you'd be surprised what people throw away. Sylvia, that's my wife, just sewed up a torn pocket and bada bing, bada boom, good as new."

The second thing that I noticed was an old tan shoe box under his arm. When he laid it down on my desk, I saw scribbled in pencil on the top were the words "rainbows end."

"You're wondering what's inside aren't ya son?"

"Maybe a little bit," I replied.

"Well let me tell you, it's the vacation we never took, the fancy meals we passed up and a lifetime of bottles and cans that these two hands drug home. That there is the 1ct diamond ring I told her she would get someday."
"Go ahead count it up and be quick about it, my wife's waited long enough for her diamond rainbow."

A new 1ct good quality diamond those days was going for over $6,000. This box must be filled with thousands, more than enough for Sylvia's dream diamond. As I started counting the cash there were more $10s than $20s and more $1s than $5s. And at the end of my count there was exactly $2,231.55. He was short, there would be no 1ct diamond, not with what was in the box. Maybe in the late 1950s this would be more than enough for the diamond of their dreams, but not in today's market. The best they could get would be a 1/2ct.

"Well son, do I have enough? When can I pick up my 1ct diamond ring?"

"Let's see, $2,231.55, that will just cover it, you can pick up the ring tomorrow."

Summary:

A good man keeps his promises even if it takes a lifetime and if you're ever in the position to save a dream do it.