YP Letters: Personal value of a contempible act of theft

MY father died after a long battle with dementia. Throughout, he was tirelessly nursed by my mother, who is now 93. Last week, in order to help further research into the scourge that is Alzheimer’s, and to raise awareness of the disease, I bought two little “Forget-me- not” lapel badges. I wear one as I write.

The other was sent to my mother, who now lives with my sister and brother-in- law. The envelope containing the pin (mounted on a small piece of card), and a postcard with a note of explanation, was posted at a central Doncaster box on Thursday. It arrived at her address in North Lincolnshire, on the Saturday. The envelope had been slit open at the corner, and the badge removed, clearly by some person who thought that it could have been a coin.

Whichever way you look at this, and however trivial the cost of the pin, the issue here is of theft. And a pretty contemptible theft at that. It is about as low as you can get, and gets placed far further down the chain from the cliché of “pond life”. I would now like three things. Firstly, an investigation. Secondly, a full apology, and thirdly, and most importantly, for the Post Office to make a significant donation to Dementia Research. I shall not, of course, be holding my breath…