Missing money makes for cherished memories

RITZVILLE – Most people can remember a time in their life when they've had the sudden realization they've misplaced an important item – be it money, a keepsake or something they've borrowed and promised to return. When the panicked search of immediate surroundings comes up empty, or is followed by a dreaded visual memory of accidentally leaving the item behind in a public setting, it's usually accompanied by a sinking heart and sick stomach.

VerDel Janosky was at East Adams Rural Healthcare with her sister, LoAnn German, August 17. She said when the doctor ordered a prescription and suggested Janosky go pick it up, her sister handed her an envelope Janosky had given her earlier in the day, containing Janosky's portion of the rent money for the home the sisters share.

"I went to the pharmacy and got the medicine, then came back to my car which I had parked at Memories. I thought, 'well I will get a sandwich while I'm here,'" Janosky recalled, "but they were closed."

She said when she got back to the hospital with the medicine, her sister asked, "Where's the money?"

"I said, 'What money?' and that's when I realized the envelope wasn't with me," Janosky said. "I went up to Jake's, because we had eaten there, and they looked but it was not there."

Janosky said after taking her sister home, she returned to the hospital, but the envelope wasn't to be found.

"I thought, 'Oh, no!' But later on I got a call from the hospital and they said, 'Contact Memories. I think they have your money.'" Janosky said.

Scott Gorman, the owner of Memories Deli at 202 W. Main Avenue, had posted on Facebook that he found some money, and a hospital employee saw the post.

"I immediately came down to the diner, and they were closed, but he had the door open so I could get the money," Janosky said.

Her voice takes on a gruff imitation of Gorman's voice as she recalls the conversation.

"'First of all,' he says, 'how much was in here?'"

Janosky said she subtracted the rent money in her head, and told him what she thought the remaining amount in the envelope would be.

"And he said, 'Nope, there isn't that much in there.' Then I realized I had spent some over at the drug store. So I said, 'Well, subtract $35 from that.' Then he said, what kind of envelope did you have?' I said it was a Wheatland Bank envelope, and he said, 'Well, you hit the jackpot.'"

Janosky said the envelope must have fallen out of her billfold when she got in her car.

Gorman said he discovered the envelope on the street after closing up the diner and cleaning up. Looking at the security camera footage, he saw when Janosky came to the door after closing.

"The envelope had been there an hour and a half. Cars had driven over it, the top of the envelope was ripped off and you could see the cash in it," Gorman said. "One guy walked down the sidewalk and didn't see it. Another guy came in and got a pizza, and he didn't see it. If the bars had been open, it would have been gone."

Gorman said ironically, after he posted the notice on Facebook, he was contacted by another person who lost money.

"Same amount of money," Gorman said. "He called me back later and said, 'Well, it's not mine. I found it in my truck.'"

Janosky said she tried to offer Gorman a reward, but he refused to take it.

"He really is a hero," Janosky said. "He said, 'No, we need more good things happening.'"

Gorman said he knew the feeling, having misplaced his own wallet once.

"Linda Cadillac picked it up, and gave it to Bruce, the barber next door," Gorman recalled. "And he waited four or five hours to call me. Meanwhile, I walked all the way down the street and looked in every garbage can."

Fortunately for Janosky, her rent money wasn't just a memory.

"My sister likes me again," Janosky laughed.