Twenty years ago, Rhode Island resident Mike Moffitt received a call from a woman in Maryland. It turned out she had the wrong number. Gladys Hunkerson, that was the woman’s name, had dialed 401 instead of 410 and got it wrong several times.
“My father taught me this: Always answer the phone, you never know who it is,” Mike revealed.
When Gladys dialed Mike’s number again, he asked her name and gave his. The woman said she was trying to call her sister and tell her that her son had died and that she was going through a divorce with her husband.
Mike tried to be supportive of Gladys. She wrote down Mike’s number and called him from time to time. They cheered each other up with funny jokes and became friends.
Twenty years later Mike decided to visit Gladys. With flowers for the elderly woman, he rang the doorbell and said: “Gladys, it’s Mike from Rhode Island!”
After a joyful meeting, Mike became not just a friend, but a member of Gladys’ family.
