Young Man Buys Used Car from Old Man and Finds a Wallet with a Photo of His Grandma – Story of the Day

Mark discovered a wallet in the used car he bought from Derek Wilson. His mother saw him eyeing a picture inside the wallet and recognized the person in it as his grandmother, Jane. Then they discovered a huge secret that Jane had been keeping.

"What are you looking at, Mark?" Sophie asked her son, Mark, when she saw him looking at something odd.

"I found this wallet in my car," he replied. "It must belong to the previous owner. But I'm looking at this picture inside it. It's a woman. She looks really familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."

Mark was looking at a picture in the wallet. | Source: Shutterstock

Mark recently bought a used car from a man named Derek Wilson. He found him online, and his car looked great for Mark's needs. He was a recent college graduate with little money, and Derek's asking price was reasonable.

They exchanged paperwork, and Mark bought the car. He was planning on cleaning it thoroughly when discovered the wallet. He passed it to his mother. "Do you recognize this woman?"

"Oh, dear. This is Mom!" Sophie stated with a shocked expression. "How is this possible?"

"Are you sure it's Grandma? I can't believe it," Mark commented.

Sophie grabbed the picture out of the wallet and discovered an inscription in the back. "Look, there's something written here. It says 'To Derek. Remember me. I love you. Your J.'"

"'Your J?' Then you're right. It must be Grandma Jane," Mark said, grabbing the picture and looking at the inscription.

"How does Mom know the person who owned your car? It's weird. This picture must be from when she was 20 years old or something," Sophie wondered, still confused by the matter.

They went to Jane's house. | Source: Pexels

"I think we need to ask Grandma first. I was planning on calling Mr. Wilson to return this to him. But maybe, we should show it to Grandma before that," Mark suggested, and Sophie nodded, knowing it was the right thing to do.

They both got in the car and went to Mark's grandmother's house, only a few blocks away in their San Francisco neighborhood.

"I'm so glad you guys came over today," Grandma Jane said as she prepared tea and cookies for her daughter and grandson. "It's such a pleasant surprise."

"Grandma, we're actually here for a reason. We need to show you something," Mark said, pulling the wallet out of his jacket pocket and showing the photo to his grandmother.

"What is this?" the older woman asked, putting on her reading glasses, which she always had around her neck. "That's me!"

"Yes, Mom. It's clearly you. I recognized you immediately," Sophie added.

"But where did you get this picture?" Jane wondered, looking at her daughter thoughtfully.

Derek was Jane's first love. | Source: Pexels

"I got it off the wallet of an older man I met recently. I bought his car, Grandma, and he probably dropped it at some point," Mark explained.

"What man?"

"His name is Derek Wilson. Does that sound familiar? You can look through his wallet," he offered, but Grandma Jane shook her head.

"No, dear. I know exactly who you're talking about. Derek was… well, he was my first love. My first everything really. I remember him clear as day. I didn't know he was still in San Francisco," the older woman said quietly.

"I thought your first love was Dad. After all, you got married at 21," Sophie stated, talking about her father, Robert.

"Oh, dear. I think it's time you heard the truth. This is something I've been keeping for a while, and I can't do it anymore. Robert was my second love, and I did something terrible to both those men," Grandma Jane began.

"What is it, Grandma? You can tell us. It's been so long already," Mark encouraged, intrigued about the secret Jane claimed.

She broke Derek's heart. | Source: Pexels

"I cheated on Derek with Robert. It was awful. I was so young and foolish. But then I discovered I was pregnant with Sophie. I thought for sure it was Robert's, so I left Derek to be with him. We got married and forgot all about it," Jane continued. "I broke Derek's heart."

"Oh, Mom. Seriously? I was an affair baby?" Sophie griped although she was too old for that. But suddenly, something Jane said finally registered. "Wait a minute. Thought? You thought?"

"When Robert got sick, I decided to run a DNA test. I had been debating it since you were born. I didn't know for sure. You looked so much like me, but there was a chance you could be Derek's kid. And I got the results… Robert was your father, but not biologically," Jane revealed, shocking both Sophie and Mark.

"Grandma!" Mark exclaimed.

"Mom! I can't believe this! How could you?" Sophie said in distress, getting up and pacing the living room. Mark tried to calm her down, but his mother was in hysterics.

They met him for coffee. | Source: Pexels

Eventually, they left Grandma Jane's home, and Mark called Derek to give him his wallet. They debated thoroughly about telling him the truth and decided he had a right to know. Therefore, Sophie went with him.

They sat down for coffee and told him they wanted to talk about something important. They recounted to him about discovering that picture, and Mark revealed his grandmother was Jane. Derek was shocked but seemed pleased to meet them despite his heartbreaking past with Mark's grandmother.

However, they also revealed the shocking news of Sophie's biological father, and Derek couldn't believe it.

"I actually wondered about it myself, but it seemed like Sophie was sure, so she married Robert," Derek commented at some point.

Sophie valued her relationship with Derek. | Source: Pexels

"Sure," the older man said and revealed that he never formed a family of his own after breaking up with Jane. He focused on work and was now alone in life, so this was a pleasant and welcomed surprise.

Eventually, they forgave Jane for lying about it, and Sophie communicated with Derek often. She never forgot about her late father, the man who had raised her. But she valued this new bond dearly. She even invited Derek to her 50th birthday party.

What can we learn from this story?

• Honesty is the best policy. It's a cliché for a reason. Jane should've been honest with Robert and Derek in the past and maybe Derek wouldn't have been so alone.
• Some coincidences seem like fate. Mark encountering the wallet seems almost like fate. As if Sophie was always meant to meet Derek in some way.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who divorced her husband after a young man showed up at their door.

This account is inspired by our reader's story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.