A Special Rock Find Brings Happiness To Two Toms River Women

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Melissa Tozzi says she sat in her car crying, staring in disbelief for several minutes at the rock sitting on the passenger seat.

The exquisitely decorated, Halloween-themed rock was beautiful. But it was the truly random act of kindness that went with it that stopped her in her tracks.

The person who'd painted the rock had attached a note that read: "Have courage and be kind, keep your head up and enjoy your find." They'd also attached a $100 bill.

Tozzi was in shock.

"We get paid once a month," Tozzi said. She had stopped in to Five Below — "I go there maybe twice a year," she said — to pick up some inexpensive window clings for her son, who had gone back to school after being sick for 10 days and was not coping well with having to return. The window clings were meant to cheer him up, and Tozzi said she literally counted out change to pay for them.

"At the end of the month, things are always really tight," she said. The $100 arrived at the perfect time.

The rock had been hidden by Melissa Scheller, another Toms River resident, who's among more than 5,200 people participating in the Toms River Rocks! rock hiding-and-hunting group on Facebook.

"I started to put a little twist on my rocks because right now I am in a position to do so," said Scheller, who connected with the group earlier this year after finding a rock painted by another member when she was struggling with the grief of the sudden death of her mother last Christmas.

"She helped me set up the children's toys on Christmas Eve. I went to wake her up like a little kid on Christmas and she was not alive," Scheller said, adding that her mother, 51, had died of undiagnosed congestive heart failure. "My heart has been broken ever since."

She was walking into Walgreens one day and found a rock with a simple message: "SMILE."

"I had no idea that there was a rock-finding thing going on," Scheller said. "It was kind of like I was hiding under a rock dealing with my depression."

Scheller connected with Laura Clark Genovese, who had painted the rock and hidden it. The connection not only helped Scheller begin to find her way out of the grief, it also inspired her to join in.

The group was started last fall by Toms River resident Robyn Albanese with the aim of spreading fun and giving people another outlet for their creativity. Albanese said she was inspired by a similar group in Hamilton. Rocks are painted in a variety of ways by a variety of people — children, adults, women, men.

Some rocks are decorated with smiley faces or have an inspirational saying. One woman shared a photo to the Facebook group of two rocks she had painted in memory of the daughter she lost to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Some rocks commemorate holidays or other special events. There are businesses that participate as well, promoting special offers through the rock finds.

Finders are encouraged to share their rocks to the Facebook page as much as possible, giving those who painted and hid them some insight into where they ended up and who they impacted.

That's what Tozzi did Thursday, posting a photo of her find and recounting how she came across the rock outside Five Below in the Toms River Shopping Center, where she had gone to buy her son the Halloween-themed window stickers.

"My gas light is on, I'm literally counting and paying for said window stickers in change (we get paid once a month, end of the month is ALWAYS super tight), and as I'm walking out of the store, I see this absolutely breathtaking, and most beautifully decorated rock on the ground," Tozzi said. And then she found the $100 bill and Scheller's note. "You don't know how much of an impact this will have on me not only today, but from this day forward!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Tozzi wrote.

It wasn't long before group members connected the two, and the shared happiness began to overflow.

"That was a really wonderful thing you did. Glad this rock found its way into the right hands! You are a ROCK STAR!!!" one member wrote.

"Not all angels have wings," another wrote. "You my friend will be blessed."

"This is not the first time I've done this," Scheller said. "It's just that this time it blew up."

"I pay it forward daily because that's what makes me feel good," Scheller said. "I am so happy that this rock made its way to someone in need. If I am able to do something for someone else to try and make a difference in someone else's life I will."

Tozzi, for her part, said she intends to pay it forward with random acts of kindness.

"This made me feel so good, I cannot wait to think of some clever way to pay this forward," Tozzi said. "It was the first thought I had after I got over the shock of finding it."

An added bonus for both women: It turns out they had been acquaintances years ago, when they were in a mutual friend's wedding. Now they're able to reconnect, and on Friday they did so during a brief visit at Tozzi's home.

"I believe everything happens for a reason," Scheller said.

"Our main objective is to remind everyone how great it is to live in a diverse community of friendly, talented, and creative residents," Albanese said on the group's Facebook page, adding that she wanted to encourage community involvement and camaraderie. "With each new brightly colored rock, we are reminded that #TomsRiverRocks!"

"I am so grateful that we live in a community that can come together and be excited to simply just find a rock," Scheller said, adding a message for the other group members: "Keep on sharing so we can show other places that Toms River is a place where people actually care about each other and look out for each other."

"I just want to inspire other people to do good," Scheller said.

"There's always people worse off than you, and you never know who might be helped by a kind word or something as simple as a rock," Tozzi said.

Photos courtesy of Melissa Tozzi and Melissa Scheller, used with permission