Lost key opens door to hope

Strangers stop to help man from Gas who lost motorcycle key on a recent ride. He had been feeling down, and the incident restored his faith in humanity.

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November 20, 2020 - 3:25 PM

When Lawrence Elliott recently went looking for a lost key, he found instead a renewed faith in humanity.

It all began when he decided to take his motorcycle for a ride a couple weeks ago, starting out from his home in Gas. He’s lived there with his wife, Anita, since the couple returned from New York in 1987.

The sun was warm, the sky was blue, and Elliott was on top of the world. “It was a very nice day,” he said.

That is, until he returned home and discovered that his recently purchased Suzuki can continue to operate without the key in the ignition.

Somewhere between home and the farthest point along a 20-mile round trip, he’d lost th key but who on earth knows where.

“I spent two days walking around the highway and stuff,” he said, though without any luck.

“Everything looks like a small black key fob from the highway.”

BUT THEN something unexpected happened.

He’d pulled his truck over to continue the search once more, turning on its hazard lights.

And then not one, but at least six different people stopped to help him.

His neighbor saw him first and made sure to give him a hard time, which as Elliott noted, wasn’t hard since he was walking stooped over with his cane and looking a bit disheveled.

Indeed, he’s faced a lot of health problems in recent years, and often has difficulty getting around on his “bad days.”

“Some days I feel like my old self,” noted Elliott. “Some days I just feel old.”

And like most people, a combination of COVID-19 and toxic election politics had led him to feeling extra down of late.

However, when so many folks stopped to offer him assistance, things started looking up.

Some offered Elliott rides and others even aided in his search.

“It really made me feel good,” he said, especially since most of those who stopped along the highway were total strangers.

“They didn’t even know me,” Elliott remarked, tearing up.

UNFORTUNATELY, even with all the extra help, Elliott never did find his keys, and so will likely have to purchase a new ignition for his bike.

According to him, though, he nonetheless discovered something much more valuable.

Receiving so much kindness, “it’s really something to lighten the day,” he said.

“To me, it’s worth millions.”

Indeed, in the 35 years that Elliott has called Allen County home, he’s never experienced anything quite like it.

And he was especially taken aback given what he described as more and more people becoming isolated from one another, even before the pandemic took hold.

“People don’t even know their neighbors anymore,” he lamented.

YET a glimmer of hope was certainly illuminated for Elliott via his recent experience, and is something for which he’s absolutely grateful.

“I don’t even care that I lost the keys,” he said.

“There is good out there. It goes around.”

“That kind of thing; it’ll lift you up.”

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