Jane_Yamamoto's Blog

Last week, I got a chance to make a difference. Not a big difference, but enough to make one elderly couple in Santa Fe Springs very happy. And I’ll admit, it put a smile on my face in the process.
90-year old Ray Stenson lost his beloved turtle a couple of weeks ago. Ray says he left the side gate open, and Little Joe as he’s known, took off. Ray and his wife Alzo have had Little Joe for decades and the pain in Ray’s voice and the tears in his eyes as he told me about his loss were tough to take.
Some kids down the street found Little Joe and were playing with him one day when they say a woman in a black pick-up truck drove up and told them the turtle was hers.
So on Wednesday night, we filed our report. My photog Kevin Horton and I even drove around the neighborhood looking for Little Joe, hoping we could somehow turn Joe’s pain to happiness.
The next morning I called Ray to see if he had heard anything or found Little Joe. He hadn’t, but several hours later, I found out the woman who had Little Joe returned him to Ray.
We went back out there, and the smile on Ray’s face was as wide as could be. He was playing with Little Joe and talking up a storm, and he couldn’t thank us enough for telling his story and helping get his best buddy back.
We’re not sure if that woman saw the report and then brought Little Joe back. She wouldn’t talk to us. But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the smile on Ray and Alzo’s faces as we left that night.
I love my job, but on nights like that, I really love it!