You know the story – someone buys a locket or a chest and finds something totally crazy inside. Well, one couple from Charleston, South Carolina, got a LOT more than they bargained for after purchasing a beautiful desk from Bachelor Hill Antiques in nearby Walterboro.
When Russell Douglas Powell and her husband got the desk home, they realised the drawers were locked. So they hired a locksmith to unlatch them (they didn’t buy a desk to NOT be able to use the drawers, after all). But when the locksmith was finished with his job, they found something completely unexpected inside – a treasure trove of gorgeous family heirlooms.
The wooden desk was chock full of antique jewellery, birth certificates, wedding photographs, keepsakes, letters from WWI and handwritten notes from a woman named Joanne Sauter. ‘Great Grandma Jo’, as she called herself in the letters, wrote to everyone in her family – and every single item in the desk was intended as a gift to one of her children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren.
Powell felt as though ‘she collected all her favorite things and memories and tucked them away for her family to find one day’.
A quick Google search revealed that Jo had passed away, but because of this, Powell was even more determined to find the Sauter family and return these beautiful mementos to them.
After what Mrs. Powell called some ‘creative research’, her husband, Taylor, located Grandma Jo’s son. Charlie Sauter lived in Upper Arlington, Ohio, and his wife, Robin, was a teacher there. Taylor called Robin’s school directly, who then put her on the phone. Apparently, Charlie and his wife Robin had sold the desk to an antique shop in Michigan a few years before, but had NO clue that these treasures were hidden inside.
Elated about the discovery, Charlie and Robin sent a touching note to the couple in gratitude:
‘Dear Taylor and Russell – Thanks so much for contacting us about the keepsakes from the desk. What a true blessing. Please let us know the cost to ship these items and we will gladly reimburse you. I'm so grateful that you and your wife took the time to search for us. Grandma Jo is smiling down on you both today. Our family appreciates it more than you know. Love, Robin and Charlie Sauter’
Excuse us while we sob at how BEAUTIFUL this is.
This article was written by Alexis Hobbs and originally appeared on Woman’s Day.
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