The Washington Post put out an article Friday morning to help Abe Wachsman try and return a stuffed monkey left in the back seat of his car. The stuffed animal was left there by a toddler who Wachsman helped after the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City.
The 73-year-old lives in Queens and was driving to his office in the Financial District when the attack happened on the World Trade Center. Wachsman used his car to help people get rides running from the area on foot. Six people came into his car including a young couple and their toddler. The toddler left behind a stuffed monkey in the SUV.
“I’d let the couple and the child out of the car somewhere between Chelsea and Midtown, and I knew it would be impossible to find them,” Wachsman tells WP. “I can’t remember whether the child was a boy or a girl, but I had the impression they were visiting New York on vacation.” He decided that one day he would reunite the monkey with the toddler. “I knew the likelihood was pretty low, which is why so many years went by,” he said.
Now it has been 20 years since 9/11 and Wachsman's daughter Jessica Wachsman-Selznick, decided she would help him find the monkey's owner using social media.
“I never considered it mine,” he said. “I saw myself as the monkey’s caretaker. My wife and I have had several cars over the years, and the monkey has ridden along in each one.” He continues, "“I have no reasonable expectation that a reunion will happen, but why not try? It must have been traumatic for the child to lose the monkey. Twenty years later, I’d love to give it back.”
For Wachsman's full story you can read the original article here.