Paw-Paw's Quilt

Last summer I stopped in at Goodwill to have my usual look around.  I rarely look at the linens or the quilts there, because it's always college dorm cast-offs.  But, one quilt caught my eye as I passed by. It was made of different materials than the usual quilts I see. 

 It was made out of lots of different old pearl snap Western shirts.  Some of the patches even had the pearl snaps and the cuffs.  All sorts of different shirt material.  Plus it was nicely quilted and monogrammed.  

It had a big embroidered patch that said PAW PAW and a man's name as well as his birth date and the date Pawpaw had died.  He had just died in 2011 and that was 2015.  Plus, someone had to have the idea and the time to actually make the quilt, distribute it to someone and then they had already donated it?  It just didn't seem right.  

I see a lot of things at sales and at thrifts that make me sad wondering why no one wanted them - how did a huge framed family portrait end up at Goodwill?  A family bible at a yard sale.  Baby's First Record book in the free pile.  On and on.  I know you can't keep it all.  But somethings just should be kept by someone.

Friday my Mom was over and I showed her the quilt.  We decided to do a little googling.  We found Pawpaw's obituary in Oklahoma.  It even said in the Obituary he was a good Paw-Paw to .... and it listed five grandchildren.  The first one lived in the next town over from me, so I decided to see if I could find him on Facebook.  I did, (you knew that was coming) of course.  I sent him a Facebook Message explaining that I felt like it wasn't meant to be at Goodwill and I would love to get it back to his family.  I left my phone number and wondered if I would ever hear from him.  Well, in about thirty five seconds I had a "Yes, Please!" message and then my phone rang!  He had recently moved to not far from me and somehow in the bustle of the move, the quilt got put in a pile of towels and blankets destined for Goodwill.  They didn't realize it was gone until it was too late.  

Within a couple hours, he was in my driveway picking up the quilt.  My Mom said, "You HAVE to take a picture of him with it!  Do it for THE BLOG!"  I almost didn't ask, but I knew I would be sorry.  Too bad he shut his eyes, but I like to think he was overcome with joy. :)  

I was amazed that I had it that long and it was that easy to find the owner and return it to him.  I feel good that it is back where it belongs.  I love junk and the story of junk.  This is a good junk story.