A woman enters into a thrift store and buys a piece of $2 art for her daughter. Little did she know her Christmas gift to her daughter was going to change her and her daughter's life. The thing that she bought at the junk store was an extraordinary material.
Have you ever bought anything so cheap that you think can't be more useful than a showpiece? But one day all of a sudden you learn that it is way more than what you had thought. The chances are unlikely if you are not Priscilla Bailey of Plymouth.
Priscilla is a middle-aged woman living in Massachusetts. The woman who was used to of living an ordinary life had no idea that her one visit to a thrift store would bring her in limelight. The incident occurred during the most celebrated time of nation i.e. Christmas.
The whole of the town was decorated with lights and trees. Not many days were left for Christmas so the woman had to hurry to get a gift for her daughter. She thought a lot and lastly decided to visit a thrift store to see if she finds anything interesting out there.
Like any mother Priscilla Bailey, a Massachusetts woman adores her daughter. She never misses a chance to express her love for her little angel. This is why she stepped into this thrift store to look for something for her beloved child.
She had visited many thrift stores before this one. So, she sort of had an idea of how to look for the good stuff. However, this was the first time she was visiting this shop. But there was no way she was going to forget her this visit.
The story begins normally. A woman buys an antique supposedly worth $2.99. She bought it as she felt an attraction to the piece. She got this piece at a Savers store in Plymouth. It seemed everything was well planned in advance.
She was going through the articles when her eyes caught the glimpse of the trinket. She could not take her eyes off for a while. She wondered if that was actually included in the trash. She had her mouth agape in surprise. The time was of Christmas. The thing was resplending in its highest form.
Moreover, this glass would catch the light when moved. She was highly impressed with the piece and decided to buy it. She had expected a heavy amount for this. It was purplish in color. She had decided to gift it to her daughter. Was she making the right decision?
The product was sold merely at $2.99. It came as a surprise for her but that was nothing in comparison to the surprise she was going to get soon. The woman had to do a thorough study of the good before gifting it to her daughter. She had a hunch that the trinket she had just found was not an ordinary one.
Her daughter was running a glass-art-making business. The woman was well acquainted with all types of glasses as she had been running the business for a long time. But this one was different. It was something that they had never hoped for.
Kate Barlett runs a website named Stay Glassy. The website shows off art designed with glassware. Those are purchased at antique markets and thrift stores. Not only that, but Bartlett also gives her customers the offer to chose and book their favorite and own glass garden party. These workshops mainly teach people to design their own glass art while hosting a party.
"Look what I found, I got it at Savers." The woman said enthusiastically. She was excited because she knew what she had found was nothing like ordinary. She wanted to share this news with her daughter and when she did, both of them were in utter surprise.
Kat had been in this business for long and so did not take much time to realize that there is something unprecedented about this ornament. She realized what her mother could not. She took it from her mother's hand.
Even though the heart looked empty on the inside, it was very heavy. She suspected something was hidden inside it. But what could it be? She needed to find that out without damaging the artifact. How would she do that?
Well, where there is a will, there is always a way. She soon figures out the solution to her problem. She took out a mini torch of her own and flashed the light on the glass. Well, the glass was indeed not empty.
They took no time to understand the seriousness of this matter. They immediately informed the news media houses. The story they shared went viral in no time. Soon it got spread all around the country.
They were hoping that the owner of this object would come out after hearing the news. They waited for the right owner to come. However, no one appeared.
Minutes after the news broke, journalists thronged Priscilla's house. The woman who herself was awestruck told the writers, “Right now, it’s hanging up there when I do my dishes. I sometimes stare at it.”
It was then her daughter came rushing with a flashlight in hand. She directed the light on the item and something amazing happened. There were two compartments in the heart filled with something like ashes.
Priscilla explained, “It’s small. The two spots in it are small, the size of a golf ball.” Though it was small in size, it indeed held a big value. Those two had no idea till now what were they holding in their hand.
It was difficult to make out what was that thing. But everything got solved when they saw the engraving sitting on the top. The engraving above had demystified all the mystery. However, there was more to find out.
Priscilla shot a glance on top of the heart and noticed tiny angels and the engraving on the bottom of the trinket was equally pretty. Kat took the trinket and glanced back at it. She reminisced, “I said to her, ‘It looks like it’s ashes, Mom.’”
Bailey suspected that the glass heart was filled with remains of family pet and beloved relative. The heart of glass was extremely beautiful and so was taken in use to store the remains of someone very close.
They suspected it to be an urn in which ashes were kept. It was a surprising moment for her mother. But she soon overcame the surprise and remembered that she had kept it with herself for some weeks now.
Now was the high time to look for the owner. Though they had no idea who was the owner, the possibility was that the owner must have been searching for it for a long time. Anyone would. The trinket seemed to be very precious.
Kat could not keep it to herself as it was not an ordinary piece. Along with that, she was growing impatient to learn the mystery behind it. “It’s beautiful. It must have a story, so that’s my goal — to find out where and who this belongs to.”
Priscilla had undertaken the responsibility of guarding it till its rightful owner does not claim it. They are very excited to know the story that revolves around this thing. According to her, it was all planned by nature. She was chosen to find the thing and keep it to herself till its owner comes to the light.
The story that began with a junk shop now had reached to millions of peoples through Facebook. Though the story was unique, no one had expected it to spread like fire. However, there was no trace of its owner.
Though Priscilla has developed an affection for the item, she is hopeful that someday someone would come and claim it. She said, “someone comes forward and says yes that was my grandmother or grandfather.” She called it her fate that she bought it. What does her daughter think?
Well, this is for sure that the ashes belong to someone very special. The urn of this kind is not an ordinary sight and if someone has put so many efforts then it must be of someone special.
Kate is hoping its owner to reunite with it as soon as possible. She finds it heartbreaking that someone lost something as precious as this. In the hope of finding out the owner, she posted the story on social media that unexpectedly went viral.
She posted, “Hey, friends! I am in desperate need of this post to go viral! My mom Priscilla Boddie Bailey bought this at Savers in Plymouth about 2 weeks ago. At first we thought it was very unique until we got it home and realized it is full of ashes!!!! We want to return it to the rightful owner."
The story was shared over 3,000 times on social media. Bartlett opened up, “I went throughout town here in Plymouth – through the ‘Plymouth Connection’ and ‘All Things Plymouth,’ and it’s spreading like crazy. So hopefully we find its owner.”
Kat wrote, “It breaks my heart that this was tossed away and just sitting on a shelf at Savers for $2.” She is hopeful that the person who claims to be its real owner is not lying. She is eager to learn more about the item and that can only happen after they manage to find its true owner.
Kate seeing no option in hand decided to start her investigation from where it all actually began. She visited that junk store and asked them if they had any idea who had donated this urn to them. Initially, the staff could not understand why were they asked this question. But then they replied.
To their dismay, the staff of the shop too were oblivious to this. They even asked them to get the item to them so that they could “dispose of it properly.” Clearly going back to the shop did not help.
They were yet to find out its true owner when an acquaintance of theirs showed a photo to Kat. It was indeed a big blow to her. They just had not expected that.
Despite the viral post and news in media, the true owner remained a mystery to them. However, the Savers did provide them with a hand of help by clearing that all the goods that are in their store are donation given by locals only. It clearly implies that whoever is the owner of this ornament must be in this city only.
“It’s beautiful it must have a story so that’s my goal to find out where and who this belongs to,” “At first I got spooked, for a second,” Bailey clarified. “But then, it’s been in the house all this time — a couple of weeks now — and it needs to find its owner!”
Bailey said, “It’ll be fun seeing what happens and hopefully someone comes forward and says yes that was my grandmother or grandfather.” “I just thought it was pretty so maybe it was meant to come here who knows,” she continued.
“Right up here on the top, right across the top, it looks like angels or Vikings. They look like little angels, and there’s all this work down here. It’s really beautiful.” “It’ll be fun seeing what happens and hopefully someone comes forward and says yes that was my grandmother or grandfather.”
“It’s small. The two spots in it are small, the size of a golf ball.”Somebody had the wherewithal to put it all together and have it made and probably hung it in the house.” “And now, it’s hanging over the sink where I do dishes.”
Connie Whiteman Slatt commented on the post published on Facebook after noticing the glass ornament. “Please let me know what you find out as I have one also, found mine at a thrift shop too! It's heavy in weight.” It’s almost the same design!
They had no idea what to do next when other news of the discovery of glass ornament came to the surface. Coincidentally that too was found in a thrift shop. But the question was if it really had the ashes of a gone person.
They still were unsure about what to make of it. However, Connie Whiteman Slatt did get a response from one person stating. The reply was very important as it did talk about a lady who had bought a thing from the Pacific Northwest: “Mine was iridescent and heart shaped like this one, but much less ornament and more suncatcher-like. It was made from the ash of Mt. Saint Helen.” The lady was her aunt.
“This could also explain what appears to be ashes enclosed within. ….could be a possibility, added the person that goes by the nickname ‘Cat Willow VII'."
Though it is an urn, it never really scared Priscilla. The urn was very pretty in appearance and that is the reason she could not give it back to the store when they asked her to.
The search to find the owner is still on. Priscilla and Kate are exploring all the avenues to reach the owner. Most likely, the owner would not have gotten the news. We hope, he/she find out about the urn as soon as possible and take it back.
Though they got no help from the shop or their post, they are hopeful that this precious trinket would show them the way to reach the owner. We wonder if the owner has completely forgotten about it or he/she has relocated to a place where this news could not reach.
This is amazing that Priscilla stepped inside the thrift store looking for something interesting for her daughter and ended up finding a mysterious object. Unfortunately, the mystery is still unsolved. It would be interesting to see who this object belongs to.