Maria van der Sloot is an accomplished violinist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Ever since public concerts were cancelled due to COVID-19, she spends her spare time hiking in the mountains.
“It’s magical being up there,” she said. “It’s hard to describe. It’s something your soul needs.”
Last Sunday, she went for a hike on a trail in Kananaskis Country. She discovered something unusual.
“I saw on the ground what looked like a $5 bill. My first thought was, ‘Sweet! Five bucks!’ But I picked it up and it was like, ‘No. This is not $5,'” van der Sloot said.
The find along the trail was quite a treasure.
“It was a binder clip with a significant amount of cash in it,” van der Sloot said. “On the one hand, part of me thinking finders-keepers, but then I thought, no.
“We have to try and get this back to the person who dropped it.
“Being out there, it’s so pristine and everyone is coming there to heal and recharge — and to lose your money on that trail would be so devastating if that was me.”
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The stranger turned out to be Alford Lau. He was hiking that same trail on that same day with his wife.
“My phone was in my jacket pocket and it has a latex phone cover, so it drags things out every time I went to grab it,” Lau recalled. “I took it out to take photos, and halfway through the trail I was like, ‘Hey, where is that money?'”
His heart sank when he realized the $300 was missing.
“I thought it would be gone forever,” he said.
But at the end of his trek in the parking lot, he saw a handwritten note posted at the trailhead. It was written by van der Sloot.
“I saw the note and it said ‘found money.’ I was hopeful,” Lau said.
He reached out to the email provided on the note and the pair connected in Calgary. Not only was the money returned, so too was faith in humanity.
“She is so honest, so sweet. She is just an angel from heaven,” Lau said.
“I’m overwhelmed and flattered. I don’t believe in karma — I was just doing the right thing,” van der Sloot said.
The two of them may meet again. van der Sloot invited Lau to come see her perform with the CPO in person once concerts resume.
“I’ve never gone to the CPO before,” Lau said. “When it’s allowed, I will go and see her performance and say hello.”
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