mislaid millions

Now… where did I put that million dollars cash? 

Right, right – the mattress.

Incredible story over at CNN, concerning a Tel Aviv woman – named in Israeli media only as Annat, presumably to protect her anonymity – who went shopping early Sunday morning, hoping to surprise her elderly mother with a new mattress.  She made the purchase, and on Monday, schlepped it home while the mother was out, dumping the old, ratty one they’d had for years in a downstairs dumpster. 

The elderly mother returned home Monday evening to behold the gift, and promptly unveiled a startling revelation.  For years she’d been stuffing the innards of her old mattress with cash for safekeeping.  At the time it was tossed the mattress contained her entire life savings: a million bucks cash.      

Annat rushed downstairs to discover a garbage truck had already carried off the prize.  She contacted the management of Tel Aviv’s two major dumps and notified them of the million-dollar mattress.  They dispatched their staffs to scour the landfills, but by Tuesday, the story had leaked to the media. 

Treasure hunters swarmed the dumps, some aiding Annat in her search, presumably anticipating a generous prize; others apparently hoping to claim the $1 million for themselves.  As of this writing, the mattress remains unrecovered, the cool mil moldering away in a heap of trash someplace.

And what’s Mom got to say about all this?  Amidst all the chaos and hustle, Annat alleges her mother, displaying that calm fortitude of old age, shrugged off the loss, saying only, “The heart is crying, but you know, we could have been in a car accident or had a terminal disease.  It’s a very, very sad story, but I’ve been through worse.”