A woman who spent $2 on a painting in a small-town thrift shop has detailed the “cool experience” of handing it over to somebody for whom it had great sentimental value.
While rummaging through a pile of art, Alexis Hadley, from Bay Minette in Alabama, found a charming print of a military figure on horseback with a sword drawn. “I brought it home with me because I loved it, it was going to look great on my gallery wall,” she told Newsweek via video.
Painting note uncovers family heirloom
However, before hanging it up, she discovered a note on the back that read: “For Lewis Willis Bradford Tate, with love. There is no greater honor, nor deeper satisfaction, than to serve this great nation as an officer. It’s in your genes and I sincerely hope you will pursue that opportunity. With love, forever, Poppy.”
Assuming there weren’t too many Lewis Willis Bradford Tates out there, Hadley did some digging and came across a local author with that name on social media.
“I found him on Facebook and so I messaged him and said, ‘Hey, this is a really random question, but do you have someone in your life that you call Poppy? He said ‘Yes.’ And he told me who Poppy was”.
Poppy, it turns out, was the nickname of the author’s late grandfather, Colonel George Willis Tate, Sr, who was a descendant of George Washington.
Despite the revelation, Tate insisted that Hadley keep the print. “I just can’t,” she confessed. “I tried to hang it up in my house and I just cannot keep it.”
$2 for one person, priceless for another
Instead, Hadley decided to surprise Tate by gifting it to him at the Foley Book Exchange on June 7, when she learned he would be doing a book signing.
“As soon as I walked into the bookstore and he saw me and the picture, he got up and came over and hugged me and I gave it to him,” she said. “At first, I think he just thought I’d brought it to show him, but I said, ‘It’s yours; I cannot keep it, it belongs with you.’ He was clearly emotional about it and was so thankful I had come and given it to him.”
What started as a thrift store find ended as a heartfelt reunion with family history, and a reminder that some things end up exactly where they belong.
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