When the winter season comes along, we dust off our coats and try them on for size. Maybe we even reach into the pockets, and find some remnants of the seasons past: These things could be anything, from gum wrappers to hair ties and forgotten pennies.
Usually, none of these things are precious, or even of value to anyone but the owner (if they even have any value at all.)
But what one homeless man found inside a coat pocket was quite different.
The man picked up the donated coat from Rob Nykoluk, who hands out these much-needed items to the needy.
Nykokuk was surprised when the homeless man returned, this time with old-looking papers in his hands. He said that he thought they might be valuable to someone.
He was right! The papers weren't ordinary pages — they were the 1946 discharge papers of a WWII veteran, some newspaper clippings, and a photo of the soldier as a baby in 1915. What a valuable find, indeed.
Nykoluk understood how special this find was, and posted about it on Facebook, hoping to find the veteran or his family.
It wasn't long before he found out that the man in question had passed away in an assisted living facility, but had living family members — notably a niece. That niece, Lynda Peterson, was more than happy to give those precious documents a home again, in remembrance of her uncle, who she says was a quiet but feisty man until his death at 101 years old.
Please SHARE if you're glad this thankful woman can keep a small piece of her uncle's life close to her heart!
