PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – A long-lost family heirloom has finally been found thanks to a post shared nationwide on Facebook.
“It was lost a really long time ago,” said Celia Bashaw of Plattsburgh. “It was lost when my mom was still alive, so she was also looking for it.”
The leopard carving was accidentally sold when the family cleaned out their grandmother’s house after she passed away. Bashaw always wondered what happened to it. A couple of weeks ago, she decided to post a message on Facebook.
“I was a little skeptical on posting,” she said. “I was like, you know, like people have so much more other things to worry about more important things to worry about than like my lost heirloom.”
The longshot post featured an old picture of her mother and family standing in front of the carving of the leopard.
The post resonated with so many people, it was shared nearly 600 times across the country, as far away as Arizona. After her post was shared nationwide, Bashaw was surprised to find she would only need to drive from Plattsburgh to Rutland to be reunited with her family’s artwork, now a family heirloom at last.
“I finally got a message from this man. And he’s like, ‘Hey, it’s so funny that you posted that because we have one just like it,’” Bashaw said.
“I says, ‘Oh, my god.’ I says, ‘We have one just like that,’” said Chris McKirryher of Rutland.
Down in Rutland, McKirryher and her partner, Phil Matte, made the connection.
“Sent chills. And here’s she’s looking for this and we have one, you know, and it was just amazing,” McKirryher said.
McKirryher and Matte love to go to yard sales and found the piece a few years ago at a sale in Pittsford. They contacted Bashaw and decided on a very reduced price she could afford, and she was reunited with the wood carving again.
“With all the bad news and everything going around, it’s good to see something really nice,” Matte said.
“There’s enough bad in the world,” McKirryher agreed. “You know, you gotta have a little good, good, a lot of happiness.”
“It’s like a one-in-a-million chance,” Bashaw said. “They made it important to them because it was important to me. So that’s everything that compassion, you know, it’s just it shows.”
Bashaw plans to pass the carving down to her daughter.
For now, when she looks at it, it’s a reminder of her mother’s love and the kindness of strangers.
“I wish I could tell my mom about it right now,” Bashaw said. “She would be so elated. Like she was looking for it forever.”