Woman Recognizes Old Pendant of Policeman Who Saved Her from Drowning – Story of the Day

Oscar grew up to become a police officer, and one day, he saved an older woman from drowning. She looked up at him from the stretcher, and her eyes flared after recognizing the pendant on his neck. Then his parents told him the truth about her.

“I’m going to get an ice cream cone,” Oscar’s father, Neal, said during their outing in Lake Louisa State Park. His mother, Dorothy, decided to go with Neal for ice cream while Oscar watched the lake and reminisced. His parents loved him dearly, and he was grateful for that, as he had recently graduated from the police academy.

He dreamed of becoming an officer of the law most of his life, and it finally happened thanks to their support. But Oscar also thought about the silver pendant hanging from his neck. They had given it to him as an infant, and he had worn it since. They told him it was vital for him to have it, but no one else in the family had any idea why.

Whenever he asked, his mother said that one day he would know why. But why couldn’t she just tell me? he mused while looking at the beautiful lake in the park. Oscar dismissed that idea watching the children running around the area.

It was a beautiful summer day in the park, and families were all around. But suddenly, Oscar heard a distress call from somewhere. Other people approached the lake in haste and pointed at something in the middle.

Oscar noticed that a woman had fallen off her kayak and was fumbling in the lake. He took action immediately, grabbing an empty boat and rowing towards her location. The woman had gone underwater, seemingly unable to keep swimming anymore, so he had no choice but to dive and reach for her.

Luckily, she was breathing on her own when they surfaced, and Oscar got her on his boat and back to shore immediately. His parents had returned from getting ice cream, and they were frantic. “Oscar! You saved this woman! Is she ok? Neal, quick call 911!” Dorothy exclaimed, frazzled.

“I already called them, dear. It’s fine—” Neal began but stopped when he got a good look at the woman. She was still breathless and wet, but he recognized her instantly, although Dorothy had yet to realize who she was.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Oscar asked as he noticed his father’s hesitation and the strange look he gave to the woman who almost drowned. Before Neal could answer, a park ranger brought over the team of paramedics to tend to the woman. They made her lie down on a stretcher and wheeled her off. Oscar caught up with them, but his parents followed from farther behind.

“Ma’am, can you tell us your name and age?” a paramedic asked her.

“My name is Margaret Miller. I’m 40 years old,” the woman answered weakly. Then she looked at Oscar as they rolled her stretcher and spoke to him, “Dear boy, thank you so much for saving me.”

“You’re most welcome, Mrs. Miller. I’m a police officer, and it’s my job to help people,” Oscar answered and inclined a little towards the woman with a smile on his face.

“That’s a lovely vocation…” the woman continued. But as she looked at Oscar’s pendant, she frowned. “Oh my,” she breathed.

“What? Are you alright?” Oscar wondered, concerned about her expression.

“Sir, please move. We need to get her on the ambulance,” the paramedic interrupted, and Oscar realized that they had already reached the parking lot.

“I’ll go with you,” Oscar insisted and got on after the paramedics settled the woman. He looked back at his parents, who had just caught up with them, and said he would meet them at South Lake Hospital. They watched the ambulance drive off the lot before getting in their car.

As Neal and Dorothy drove off to meet their son, Neal was visibly nervous and sweaty. “Honey, would you please drive a little slower? I don’t want to get into an accident on our way there,” Dorothy said, trying to be humorous, but her husband did not laugh.

“I’m sorry. I’ll slow down,” he replied.

“Ok, what’s going on? You've been acting strange since the incident. Were you worried for Oscar? He was a hero today. And actually, I would have preferred that he became a lifeguard rather than a policeman. But that was his choice,” Dorothy mused.

“It’s not that, Dorothy,” Neal started and sighed. “You didn’t look at the woman Oscar rescued, did you?”

“What? I looked at her,” she answered, confused.

“You don’t recognize her?” Neal inquired.

“What? Do we know her? Who is she? I think she told the paramedics her name, but I didin't hear it well,” Dorothy said.

“It’s her, Dorothy. Margaret Miller. I can’t believe you didn’t notice,” Neal stated, exasperated now.

“Margaret Miller? Who…oh! I can’t believe it! Are you sure?”

“I would recognize her anywhere. I can’t believe Oscar was her savior. It’s like it was meant to be,” Neal continued.

“Oh my. Maybe, that’s why he felt such a need to make sure she was ok,” Dorothy mumbled. “After all, Oscar has always been intuitive. He might even notice before we get a chance to tell him.”

“Oscar is wearing the pendant. If she sees it, she’ll know. I guess we should’ve told him years ago. But we kept putting it off."

“You’re right. We should have told him the truth. We’ll do it today at the hospital,” Dorothy resolved.

The doctor checked on Margaret at the hospital and declared that she would be fine after some rest and could be discharged the same day. Oscar sat down next to her bed and watched her sleep. Why did she look strangely at my pendant? he wondered.

When the woman's eyes opened, she looked at him with a lazy smile. “You look like my grandfather,” Margaret breathed.

“What?”

“Your name is Oscar?” she asked, instead of answering him.

“Yes.”

“And you’ve always had that silver pendant? It’s more than a hundred years old. My grandmother gave it to me,” the older woman revealed.

“Then why do I have it?” Oscar questioned, but he was almost scared to know the truth.

“Oh, darling. You have to ask your parents about that,” Margaret responded.

Just then, Dorothy and Neal entered the room. They had bought a bouquet of lovely flowers at the hospital gift shop. Dorothy placed them on Margaret’s bedside table and looked at the woman on the bed.

“It’s been 23 years, Margaret,” Dorothy said and held Margaret's hand.

“I can’t believe it’s been that long,” Margaret sighed. “You never told him?”

“No, we procrastinated too much, and now, fate has decided for us,” Neal chimed in.

“What is going on here? How do you know each other?” Oscar questioned loudly.

“Calm down, Oscar. We have a lot to tell you,” Dorothy said and began the story.

Approximately 22 years ago…

Dorothy and Neal had been married for ten years at the time. They had yet to have kids and were going to look at fertility treatments soon. But they were both 33 years old and had plenty of time. Dorothy was not worried, but Neal truly wanted to be a father.

It’ll happen for us soon, Dorothy mused as she watered her plants. Then she saw a young woman holding a baby stumble on the sidewalk. “Hey! Are you ok?” she called. Suddenly, the woman fainted on her lawn. Dorothy rushed to her. Luckily, the baby was perfectly fine, but the woman would not react.

“Neal! Neal! Come outside quick!”

Her husband came rushing out and saw the scene. He grabbed the young woman off the ground while Dorothy took the baby. “Goodness, this girl is so skinny. Maybe that’s why she fainted,” Neal commented as he brought her inside their home and laid her on the couch.

“Girl? She’s a mother!” Dorothy countered.

“Honey, look at her. She can’t be older than 16 or 17,” her husband explained. Dorothy looked at the woman’s face and realized her husband was right. She was so young, and her baby must have been less than a year old.

“Where am I?” the girl asked as she regained consciousness.

“Hey there. You fainted in front of our house. Are you ok? Should we call an ambulance? Your baby is right here, safe,” Dorothy assured her.

“No, don’t call an ambulance. I’m fine. Thank you,” the girl answered.

“What’s your name? Do you want us to call anyone?” Neal chimed in.

“I’m Margaret Miller. No, I don’t have a family. I’ll be fine after a few more minutes of rest,” Margaret insisted.

“I’ll bring you some water. I think you fainted from the heat,” Dorothy replied and went to the kitchen, still holding the baby. Neal followed her. They talked for a while about what to do, but when they returned to the living room. Margaret was gone.

“Where is she?” Neal asked fearfully and ran outside. But Dorothy looked down at their coffee table and saw that she had written something on the notepad she always kept at hand. It read: “I’m sorry. His name is Oscar.” There was also a silver pendant next to it.

“I can’t see her! How could she run so fast after fainting?” Neal wondered when he returned.

“I think she faked it, darling. Here, read this. The baby's name is Oscar, and she left him a beautiful necklace,” Dorothy revealed. Neal gasped after reading the note.

Back in the present…

“We had to call the police and CPS. But we couldn’t let go of you, so we adopted you,” Dorothy finished her story. Oscar was shocked. He couldn’t believe they never told him he was adopted.

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” the 23-year-old asked.

“Forgive us, Oscar. We didn’t know how to tell you, and then, it didn’t seem that important,” Neal answered. Oscar looked at his father, not knowing what to say. There was nothing wrong with adoption, and his childhood had been outstanding. He couldn’t fault them in the end. Then Margaret spoke up.

“I’m sorry, Oscar. I shouldn’t have left you. But my parents were not the best people. When I got pregnant, they wanted me to get rid of you. I couldn’t, but I couldn’t escape them either. At the time, giving you up seemed like the only solution,” Margaret began. “In contrast, my grandparents were wonderful. But they both died in a car accident years before you were born. That pendant was the last gift they gave me.”

“My mother said this pendant was important but never told me why,” Oscar breathed, touching the necklace he had always worn. He looked at Dorothy, who smiled at Margaret.

“I never told you the significance because I honestly didn’t know. But Margaret left it behind, so I knew it had to be something special,” his mother revealed.

“Thank you. I can’t thank you enough,” Margaret cried to Neal and Dorothy. “I moved away a few years after giving up Oscar and returned only last year. And today, he saved me from drowning. I can’t believe we met again this way. Life is so strange.”

They all smiled at each other because Margaret was right. Whether you believe in destiny or fate, something brought them back together. And Oscar was glad to finally learn the truth that had been nagging him all these years. He didn’t resent Margaret because his life had been fantastic.

Furthermore, his parents had only done their best to raise him after he fell onto their doorstep. Meanwhile, this incident only fueled his passion for helping people and made him a better cop.

What can we learn from this story?

• Life has a way of coming full circle. Neal and Dorothy helped a teenager in need, who their adopted son would also saved later, not knowing she was his biological mother.
• Tell your children the truth. Oscar's parents should’ve told him about his adoption years ago. He might have found Margaret sooner.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who never met her birth parents and couldn't deal with her bio-mom showing up.

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