AMHERST - There really are good Samaritans out there.
At least that's the way Bonnie Wilkie feels.
The Amherst woman had been grocery shopping at the local Sobeys the evening of Dec. 18 and when she got home, she realized her purse wasn't on the seat beside her where she normally puts it.
"I left my large red purse in the cart at the cart corral," Wilkie said Tuesday.
"When I realized it wasn't on the seat next to me, I immediately returned to Sobeys."
After checking with the grocery store and the operators of the Amherst Centre Mall, Wilkie returned home without her purse.
"I was so devastated. I had a gift certificate in there for Christmas, cash, credit cards, a cellphone ... the usual stuff."
Wilkie said the phone rang about an hour after she had returned home, and after she had called the Amherst Police Department about her lost purse.
"It was a woman from Nappan on the other end. She had been behind me in the checkout, who I recognized the next day, and she had noticed that I left my purse," she said.
"Any time a woman loses her purse, it's scary,"
The next day, Wilkie met with Jena Steeves who returned her belongings to her.
"She was so delightful and she did the right thing," Wilkie said of Steeves.
"She was really sweet and I was overwhelmed with joy when she called."
Wilkie said it's good to know there are people out there such as Steeves and that her family should be happy she did what she need.
rtetanish@amherstdaily.com
