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I though some of the members of the CR would like this story. Mods, please post here or on the mainpage.
JERUSALEM (CNN) — It was supposed to be a pleasant surprise, but turned into the shock of a lifetime.
A woman scours a garbage heap in Tel Aviv for her mother’s missing mattress.
A woman in Tel Aviv, Israel, gave her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise gift, throwing out the old tattered bed her mother had slept on for decades. The gesture ended up bankrupting Annat’s mother, who had stuffed her savings of nearly $1 million inside her old bed for decades, Annat told Israel Army Radio.
A massive search is under way at the city dump, where security has been beefed up to keep out treasure-seekers who have heard Annat’s story in Israeli media.
Annat, who did not want to reveal the rest of her name, told Israel Army Radio that she woke up early Sunday to get a good deal on a new mattress as a surprise for her mother.
She fell asleep that night, exhausted after lugging up the new mattress and hauling down the old one to be taken out with the trash.
When her mother realized the next day what her daughter had done, she told her that she had been using the mattress to stash away her life savings and had nearly $1 million padding the inside of the worn-out mattress.
Annat ran downstairs, but it was too late. The garbage truck had already taken away the money-stuffed mattress.
Annat alerted the two major dump sites in the Israeli city in an effort to locate the bed, but so far she has had no luck. Yitchak Burba, one of the dump site managers, told Army Radio that he and his men are working relentlessly to try to help Annat find the million-dollar mattress among the tons of garbage at the landfill.
The publicity has triggered a wave of people also trying to find the mattress and its contents for themselves. Burba has increased security around the dump to keep them out.
Annat told Army Radio that when her mother realized her queen-sized bank had been tossed, she told her to “‘leave it.'”
“‘The heart is crying but you know we could have been in a car accident or had a terminal disease,'” Annat said her mother told her.
Annat is also taking the situation in stride.
“It’s a very, very sad story but I’ve been through worse,” she told Army Radio. “It’s a matter of proportions in life … people need to know how to accept the good and the bad in life.”
wow! what a story.
I hope she means what she says at the end
This beyond a big OY! What do they say – no good deed goes unpunished?????????? She meant well for her mother. Go know. And I am sure there are a lot of children checking their own parents’ mattresses now…
This really brings proof to the myth of people stuffing their mattresses with cash. Nebach, it must be very uncomfortable to sleep with such a lumpy mattress. I guess the moral of the story is to deposit your cash into the bank…….
The other moral of the story is to think before you do your chessed-of-the-day. You should really ask people what they need from you before you go out and do it for them. Bikur cholim is wonderful, but you may end up causing tzaar if you show up unannounced at what turns out to be an inappropriate time; better to call and ask when to come. Or how about when you are a guest in someone’s home, and instead of calling to ask what to bring, you show up with a lovely bouquet of flowers only to find that one of the hosts is allergic. You think you can throw something out and replace with a new one as a surprise, but find out after that the old one either had some great deal of sentimental value, or as was the case here, monetary value…
There are so many examples. It’s important to remember that true chessed means giving the person what they truly need, not what you personally think would be nice and fun for them.
Are you sure this story took place in 2009?
gourmet- excellent
proud tatty – the road is paved very thickly…….
Just wondering if anyone found it!
proud tatty: that is an amazing story! poor lady now! banks are the place for money for good reason!
areivim – to be sure, are we sure this story took place at all? The first time I heard the story, I jumped on my dinosaur and rode down to the dump to look for the mattress myself.
you and oomis on your dinosaurs- eh?
More likely than not, the mattress contained $10-20K and a whole host of expired bankbooks and decades-old statments. My F-I-L is notorios for opening dozens of squirrel accts ($2500 here, $5000 there) and when they exprire, he moves them to another bank / broker.
Problem is, he keeps the old statment, and is fully convinced that he now has $15,000! (old statements plus the new ones) Do that x times over a 50 year span, and presto! You “left your kids a million $
Not to say that this mattress story couldn’t happen, but to scour the dump? Nah, I don’t think so.
For what its worth; much of the “family heirlooms / priceless diamonds we always heard about as kids turned out to have more sentimental vaule than commercial value. But the spin we used to hear from grandma? The Astors and Rockafellers did’nt possess this kind of riches!
Hopefully, Ms (or Mrs?) Annat has treasure chests full of memories she and momma can reflect on
yep, arevim, 🙂
I remember her well – she was the youngest girl riding in those days and us older folks were very impressed.
BS”D
This could be shmutzige money from the days of illegal money changing in EY but I also suspect the mother is uber ubotel and thinks she has quite a bit more than she really does. Alternately the daughter could be off her rocker.
wow watta sad story
ppl hide their cash in the weirdest places
on shabbos we were discussing this story and my mother gave me the official ok to go ahead and buy her a new mattress-she told me not to worry about finding millions!!
so i didnt bother looking!!
but what a crazy story-this daughter probably feels so guilty!!
i hope she finds it!!
Annat told Army Radio that when her mother realized her queen-sized bank had been tossed, she told her to “‘leave it.'”
“‘The heart is crying but you know we could have been in a car accident or had a terminal disease,'” Annat said her mother told her.
Annat is also taking the situation in stride.
“It’s a very, very sad story but I’ve been through worse,” she told Army Radio. “It’s a matter of proportions in life … people need to know how to accept the good and the bad in life.”
wow.
alot we can learn…
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