Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

I didn't want to hijack tourist's original thread about this, but after reading her post, I really wanted to share the story of how I've kept my wedding keepsakes :)

Shortly after I moved away from home - my parents divorced and ended up selling the house. Lots of things were left behind and my mom was just going crazy at the time and wasn't paying attention to what she took with her. Unfortunately, one of the things she left behind (and never told me about!) was my Grandma's heirloom steamer trunk. Her parents came to this country from Country Roscommon, Ireland with nothing but this trunk, and it has been in my family ever since. Sadly, my grandma passed away earlier that year before the house was sold, and we really didn't have many of her things left - so when I found out that Mom left this at the old house - I was completely devastated! I was so upset that she would just leave something with so much history and sentimental value behind that I actually stopped talking to her for a whole month. At this point, the new owners had been in my old house for about 5 months now, so I wasn't even sure if they still had it or threw it out - but I was desperate to try and get it back. All I had was their name and my old address, so I wrote them a letter explaining what happened and asked if there was any way I could retrieve the trunk. I gave them my home telephone number, cell phone and of course, my address - but I never heard anything back and after few months of waiting, I wrote it off as a lost cause.

That was almost two years ago - fast forward to November this year - I get a phone call on my cell from the people in my old house!!!!!!! They were selling the house and found my letter as they were packing up! They were so nice and said the trunk was still there and I could come pick it up whenever I wanted!! I was so shocked and astonished to hear about it after all that time that I just broke down into tears and cried for an hour! So, we went back to my old house, met the new owners (VERY nice people!) and after all that time, I finally had Grandma's trunk again :) It now sits at the foot of my bed, and I've stored every single wedding memento that I kept. I look at it everyday and am just so happy to know that I still have a piece of my Grandmother in my life - and I know she'd be happy to know her old trunk was in loving hands once again :) I think everything happens for a reason, and since I was so close with my Grandma, I think she was just looking out for me once again by miraculously bringing this trunk back into my life after so long! I truly cherish having this, as it's the only thing of my Grandma's that I have, and I hope to pass it on to my own children too and keep it in the family for as long as possible. Grandma would have loved that, and I know she'd be so happy knowing that her trunk is now keeping all of my precious wedding day memories safe

So there's my nice little story - just wanted to share it! Thanks tourist, for inspiring this too!!

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

That's such a beautiful story Helena. I loved my grandmother to pieces too and have so many of her things. There's actually a room dedicated in my house to her belongings (a beautiful art deco bedroom set is in there with their wedding picture, her momentos, etc.). It's a very special place to me.

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

wow that is sweet. I can't believe they held on to something that wasn't their's for so long.

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

Your story is soooo sweet.
Yu got me all teary eyed, thinking of my grandmother (she passed away 15 years ago) and I really don't have much of her belongings (I have a necklace that I have given to her the year she passed away), but thats about it. Hopefully, my mom has some more things that I can have for momentos.

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

Thanks :) We were very close, and her deathwas so sudden that it was really nice to have something of hers once again.

The new owners were such good people - I couldn't believe how nice they were to just contact me after all that time, but then invited us into the house and everything - they even wanted to sell it back to us, sicne they didn't have a buyer yet! Honestly, if they weren't asking over 500,000 for it - I would have moved back to that house in a heartbeat!

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

That is such a wonderful and sweet story Helena. I'm so glad you were able to get your grandmother's trunk back!

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

What a wonderful story!

My grandmother's dining room set found it's way back into my life in a strange way. It's sort of comforting to have it in our home.

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

What a wonderful story - I love happy endings.

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

That is such a beautiful story! What a beautiful hopechest it would make

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

That was such a beautiful story..i'm all choked up now!


It's good to know there are good people in the world sometimes huh?


Thanks for shareing

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

Great story, thanks for sharing with us!

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

WOW what an incredible story!!!!! That trunk was meant to be with you ALWAYS!

Re: Spinoff to wedding mementos post - an amazing story

thats an amazing story it brought tears to my eyes im so happy you got the trunk back