When 9-year-old Gianna Rosamond opened the mermaid tail that her father had picked up for her at Target, she found more than just something to swim with inside of the bag.
A crisp, clean, $100 bill.
A student at NextGen STEAM Academy in Lathrop and a Manteca Girl Scout, Gianna excitedly ran up to her parents announcing her discovery and catching both of them off-guard with what turned out to be an Easter-pay-it-forward surprise.
“I was really surprised. I felt like I was rich!” Gianna said of her find. “I would have been really happy with just the mermaid tail because I still get to go swimming with it.”
According to Gianna’s father Joseph, who was helping his son with his shoes when his daughter made the discovery, the young girl first thought that she had found a $10 bill but shrieked excitedly when saw the extra zero. Both he and his wife looked at each other suspiciously, each suspecting the other of placing the bill there, but when they learned that neither had done so they began putting together what had happened.
“At first we were both in disbelief that it really happened. We were both suspicious of each other, thinking one of us had done it in secret,” Joseph Rosamond said. “We quickly realized that the only way it could have gotten in there was if someone had placed it into the bag at the store. We were grateful for this person’s humility and were happy to see our daughter so surprised.
“She had told us that she doesn’t believe in the Easter Bunny and knew it was fake because the bunny’s eyes never blink, but afterward she was saying “the Easter Bunny is real!” We thought it was cute.”
Gianna isn’t quite sure what she’s going to do with the money that she found and said that she’s more than likely going to save it and put it towards something that she really wants.
When she isn’t at school or participating in Girl Scout activities, Gianna is usually playing with her brother Luke or taking horseback riding lessons at All-Star Training in the Tesoro Neighborhood. She wants to be a Veterinarian when she grows up – constantly advocating for animals, and bugs, around the house.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
