It was a sandwich bag with some crumpled newspaper in it. I took out the newspaper and uncrumpled it. Inside of it was a small photo like people used to have taken in those little photo booths in the malls or stores. The photo was not labeled, however, I am sure that it is a photo of my great grandma, Louella Sylvester Leveck. She was my dad’s grandma and I knew her very well. I was pushing 30 when she passed away and had stayed at her house many times as a child. I have no other photos of her as young as she is in this one I found, however she looked the same as the photos I have of Grandma Lou, only younger.
As exciting as finding a photo of her and seeing what she looked like as a young woman, not as the great grandma I knew, there was something else! A small diamond ring was also wrapped in the piece of newspaper. I’m guessing that it was her engagement ring, perhaps from her first husband who would have been my dad’s grandfather.
How this got stuck behind the shelf will never be known. Maybe, Dad set it on the shelf and it fell behind and he didn’t realize it or couldn’t find it. I don’t know, but what a delightful surprise it was when I found it. I had met my mom’s grandma a few times but Lou was the only great grandma I knew and knew well so this picture and little ring are cherished treasures.
Great surprise, huh?