A recent positive story has seen the return of a lost wallet to retired navy weather technician, Paul Grisham. Whilst dispatched to serve in Antartica during the 1960s, spending seven months in isolation with just over 180 men, Grisham lost his wallet during his time spent at the naval station. Flash-forward to 2014, Grisham’s wallet was discovered behind a locker in the demolition of a building on the same naval station; and it has since taken seven years to source the owner and return the wallet to its rightful home.
Now reunited with his wallet, Paul Grisham recounts his memories of his time spent in Antartica, claiming he spent five of those seven months in complete darkness in an expedition that sounds most arduous. Along with his wallet, Grisham received his previous ID card, drivers license and a beer ration card. This item was particularly humous for Grisham who comically reflected on its presence, claiming in an interview with CBS 8 that it hadn’t really been used because he “preferred martinis to beers”.
Even though Grisham’s wallet was initially found in 2014, it took a variety of social media platforms, users and emails to, as Grisham himself puts it, “run [the owner] to the ground’, for a long awaited reunion that was apparently worth the wait. In the same interview, Grisham comments on the enthusiastic response from his family with regard to his long-lost documentation – “They couldn’t believe it! “Dad, really you have that?””
In a year where positive news has been rather scarce, it is the power of social media that has reunited a retired navy weather specialist with his long-lost wallet, initiating a conversation between Grisham and his family memories and uncovering a historic relic that tells a story that might have remained hidden.
If you are looking for more positive news during this particularly tough lockdown, check out some of our other articles, especially this one, to reunite yourself with the world outside of your home!
