Clovis family shows traveler kindness

Sally Pringle, Guest Columnist

Clovis’ heroes are not all in the military. Here are some I recently met: Lisa and Christopher Alvarez, ages 8 and 7, and Marie Hall, night manager of a Clovis retail store.

Lisa and Christopher are the children of Robert and Juana Saucedo of 1114 South Prince.

Two weeks ago, while driving from the San Francisco Bay area to Weatherford, Texas, I stopped for the night in Clovis and did some shopping.

I set my purse on the floor to pick up cartons of Gatorade and didn’t realize I left it there until reaching the check-out stand.

The purse was gone, with all my trip money, checkbook, identification, and credit cards.

Hall spent a long time with me searching the places where the store usually finds missing purses stashed, and when our search was fruitless, she loaned me $15 from her own purse to enable me to eat.

Luckily, my car keys were in my pocket.

Back at the motel, with a heavy heart, I called my mother in Texas. I called her collect. I had time only to say, “Mom,” when she burst out, “I know where your purse is!”

Amid cries of joy and prayers of thanksgiving, she told me how she knew.

My mother had dozed off watching the 10 o’clock news when the telephone awakened her. Noting my cell phone number on the Caller ID, she thought I was checking in.

Instead, a man began speaking and, between her sleep fog and his Spanish-accented English, she had a difficult time understanding his words.

Then a little girl took the phone and said, “You left your purse at (the store).”

She was Lisa Alvarez, who with her little brother Christopher found the purse on the floor and took it to their parents.

They pressed the redial button on my cell phone and it rang the last number I had called — my mom.

The children returned my purse to me intact and I gave them each a reward and returned Marie Hall’s $15 with my deepest thanks and gratitude.

I think they all deserve public recognition for aiding a stranger in trouble.

Their kindness, honesty and helpfulness reinforce my faith in the goodness of people.

I will never forget them and will try to pass on to someone else the wonderful gift they gave to me.

Viva the great state of New Mexico and its great people!

Sally Pringle is a resident of Aledo, Texas. She is a consultant in the computer industry.