There’s something almost poetic about seeing a pen put to paper; writing your thoughts or wishes takes time, effort, and dedication. In a technology-driven world, it’s easy to connect with anyone around the world with a few taps on our keyboards, but writing a message takes more time, and it feels more personal. It’s not always paper that a pen touches to send a message; sometimes, the vessel is more unique — like an egg.
CBS Sunday Morning brought us an interesting story today, and after hearing it, if you’re prompted to go to your local grocery and buy a carton of eggs, you’re not alone. Dunellen, N.J.’s John Amalfitano says he’s always felt connected to antique items; a true collector, he has always been drawn to things that tell a story. So when he happened upon an egg with delicate cursive writing on it, it was a keepsake he knew meant a lot. The egg was a call to action of sorts, with a simple message written upon it:
“Whoever gets this egg, please write.”
The egg was signed by Miss Mary Foss, Forest City, IA, but more interesting than that was the date on the egg – April 2, 1951. The egg had been in the possession of Amalfitano’s neighbor for 50 years, and once he had his hands on it, he held onto it for another 20 before sharing it in a Facebook group that is just as exciting as this story.
Weird (and Wonderful) Secondhand Finds That Just Need To Be Shared is a space online that invites anyone who finds secondhand items that are wonderful, weird, and warm-hearted to share them on the social media platform, and sometimes, the story takes off.
Amalfitano shared the story on Facebook, and within a day, he was matched with Mary! The internet can certainly bring some horror stories of everything from stalker neighbors to love gone wrong, but in this case, the social media platform did everything we needed it to — it brought together a young woman who just hoped to meet someone from a world far away than her own and a man who held onto a special trinket for years before taking the chance to help her finish her story.
The two met over a video chat, and it was as fun and adorable as you’d expect. When Mary was asked if she hoped to find a pen pal, she said she wasn’t sure what she was looking for, exactly — but we all have dreams; hers were dreams of finding something, or someone, new. With tears in her eyes as they spoke, it felt incredible to watch Mary have a dream realized, and when she was asked if she’d like to meet John in person — we only fell more in love with her.
“Well, I’d love to meet God, wouldn’t you?”
“John”
“Oh,” she laughed, “John. Not really; I have no desire to meet the guy. He’s got his problem for keeping an egg that long.”
Her dream was realized; she got to have a virtual meeting with a guy who not only found her egg but allowed her to see that the message she wrote that long ago mattered, and there’s nothing better than feeling like the words you write mean something.
Here’s to Mary, John, and a message in a bottle… er… on an egg.