A box of family memorabilia that includes letters and photos dating back 100 years has been returned to its rightful owner in North Vancouver.
A chocolate box containing faded black- and-white photographs and handwritten letters was turned in to the North Vancouver RCMP detachment last month, after a passerby found them outside, near the City of North Vancouver library.
Bruce McEachern said he didn’t even realize the box was missing until news stories about the mysterious box of possessions started appearing. McEachern said he’d been in the library and just happened to have the box with him. When he left the library, he inadvertently left it behind. And seemingly someone else picked it up.
McEachern said he’s happy to get the box back. The contents belonged to his mother, he said, who died in September in North Vancouver, just shy of her 102nd birthday.
“Some of the pictures of my mom are 50 years old,” he said.
The soldier who appears in some of the photos is likely one of his uncles, said McEachern. Some of the letters are likely ones written by his grandparents, he said.
He said the family history is especially important because all of his mom’s generation are now gone.
McEachern said he was surprised to see the large response the box of family photos generated, but grateful the RCMP recognized their sentimental value.
“The contents are of no worth to anyone other than family members,” he said. “We all have families.”
