lost and found summer 2011

We have a set of cabinets that are identical upstairs and downstairs. Inside each set is a laundry hamper. We have always used the upstairs one for laundry and the downstairs one has rotated between a dress up bin and dirty laundry holder.


Today Savanna took out the drawer above the hamper to take into her room so she could load it up with all of her extra pens and pencils.


I don't know why, but something about seeing inside through the open drawer hole made me curious. How does that hamper pull out and what is behind it?


HOLY COW!


There was a whole load of laundry behind the hamper. I could not reach it with my hands. I had to get one of our firepit tools- the long "tongs" to pull everything out.


What was behind there?
12 pair of underwear (including 1 pair of "training pants")
5 pairs of pants (including one size 2 T khaki Sunday pants-it has been over 2 years since anyone has worn a size 2 T. 2 pair of size 5 khaki Sunday pants that Tucker will be able to wear this fall)
4 pairs of shorts
8 shirts (including a shirt of Savannas from 2005 in a size 8)
2 pj pants
1 pj shirt
8 socks (two of which make a complete pair, and 1 adorable baby striped sock that I kept its lonely mate to for the last 4 years & 1 "Sunday Red"of Tuckers that has only been missing for 2 weeks)

I was astounded by all that was behind the hamper. It made me wonder what was behind the one downstairs.

Not as much, but just as amusing.
1 knights shield
1 superman hand
1 batman dart glove thingy
2 shirts
1 raccoon mask

I have laughed and laughed about this all day. You know how "they" say that things get lost in the wash? Our stuff never makes it to the wash!

When Jay got home and I showed him all the things that I had discovered. He laughed too and said it was kind of like a time capsule!

I think I will start checking behind the hamper more often.

Lost and Found

Five years ago Jay picked up a black filing cabinet at a thrift store in Eugene Oregon. He brought it home for me and I started to clean it up and fill up the drawers.

As I was filing away, I found a paper stuck to the back side of one of the drawers.
It was a Mailgram from 1977. It was from a husband to his wife for their 10th wedding anniversary. I have kept it and pulled it out around valentines every year, because of this sweet sentence written ...

"knowing to whom I am wed I am well aware of my value"

Now, tell me this ... who would not love to have this written about them?
I kept thinking that I would love to do something with this but could never decide what so I just put it back in the valentine folder year after year.

Today I had it out and showed Jay. We wondered if we could contact the owners of this mailgram ... maybe they might want it back.

I would, if it were mine.

So Jay started checking around on the internet..
and let me tell ya...
What a place the internet is.
Jay started out with the name of the sender. He had sent it from New York to his wife visiting somebody in Jacksonville, Oregon.

The search results just seemed too old (Somebody born in 1892.) and this was for a couple celebrating their 10th anniversary in 1977.

So then we (Jay) searched for the address on google maps of the mailgram sender ... in New York.

The result came up with a business listing "Random House."

Sound familiar to anyone? It did to us, and not only because it's a publishing company we hear of often but because ... we had just read about this guy and his connections with Random House.


This was the old guy ... but how could he have been celebrating his anniversary ... a 10th? It just took a little more reading on down the page and you find out that his first wife had passed away in 1966 and he remarried in 1967!

This whole thing has been fun, watching Jay play detective ... and link back and forth to make sure this was the same guy.

So now we have this document, celebrating this couples 10th anniversary. They are both deceased. It appears that a University in TX, has all the documents of his.

Would you try and find the family?
And if so ...
Which side?
Do I just contact the University?
And what do I say? Do you want this old mailgram from 1977?
I am kind of attached to it ... what would you do?