My daughter's grandmother passed away last year and left my daughter a Ron Lee clown collection that she had built over many years, along with her hutch to house them all. My daughter grew up admiring these clowns and was so touched that her grandmother left them to her.
My daughter rented a u-haul to bring it all home and then realized she really didn't have room for everything in her home- so she put it in a storage unit that her ex rented.
Just after the beginning of the year, the ex was in the process of moving when he slid during a baseball game and dislocated his foot- he was subsequently out of work for 3 months- and he got way behind on bills. His phone was disconnected, he had to move back in with parents for a short time and the bills for the unit rental went to his prior address. Time went by and sadly, the unit was auctioned off without their knowledge. (or at least my daughters..)
When the ex figured out what happened he was reluctant to voluntarily tell my daughter and several months went by.
This past weekend, my daughter and her sister decided to get the clowns out of storage and figure out how to start enjoying them .. only to learn that they were gone, and had been for over 6 months. The girls were heartbroken. Their grandmother's clowns meant a great deal to them.
So, my daughter turned to Facebook and, using a couple of public spaces, posted her story asking everyone for help.
Guess what? Someone knew the guy that bought the unit.
The guy that bought the unit is retired military. When he initially went through the items, he was perplexed why someone would let this collection go to auction- but when he called the storage place, they told him that the owner had had cancer and disappeared. (The ex HAD gone through cancer surgery and treatment the year prior to dislocating his foot. The storage guy assumed he had died.)
So the guy that bought the unit sat on the items- not sure what to do. Then, this past weekend he was contacted by a friend about the Facebook post and learned that the owner was heartbroken and looking for her grandmothers clowns. When he heard her story, he contacted my daughter and said that he had wanted to return the items- his gut told him someone, someday would be wanting these back.
He originally paid almost $400 for the unit .. the price he has asked to return everything "good karma". He is just happy that there was a happy ending and wants to give back the items free of charge.
A reported has asked to put the story on the front page of our local news and stated that feel good stories are too few and far between.
We are so thankful that this story has such a happy ending. And I am wondering what we can do to repay this retired soldiers generous gift.
A feel good story!
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