Thankful Thursdays

They say one person’s trash is another’s treasure, and ours was sitting on a dusty shelf just waiting to be found.

Glad you asked. 😉 Long story short, we definitely didn’t plan on discovering a time capsule that day, but a couple of weeks ago, Ray and I were wandering through an antique store with my brother and sister-in-law, and that’s exactly what happened.

We’ve always had a thing for photography. Old cameras, paper photos, home movies, all of it. So as soon as we hit the vintage camera section it was like walking into a candy store. One movie camera immediately caught my eye. It was sooo different. We gave it a quick winding, pressed the shutter, and…holy moly, it still worked! Turns out it’s a super unique 1930s 8mm die-cast metal Art Deco model. Yup, an absolute gem. Cost: $19.

Meanwhile, my brother had found a couple of random film reels, one with no label, the other literally marked “No idea.”  We figured they weren’t connected (they weren’t even next to each other), but the suspense was killing us. When he fired up the projector back at home, we were like ¡¿Queeee?! They were Part 1 and 2 of a home movie shot by a Marine on a tank landing ship. In color, no less. It showed helicopters unloading evacuees, and soldiers hanging out, living life onboard this ship. Talk about history coming to life.

Of course, my brother and Ray went down a research rabbit hole (gotta love the internet) and found out the movies are from a 1965 mission to evacuate Americans from the Dominican Republic, right in the middle of a military-backed coup that threw the place into total chaos. Like I said, full-on time capsule stuff. Cost: $3 each.

Wild, isn’t it? How an object can hold so much life. Someone’s memories frozen in time, just waiting to be found again. And we did. Decades later. Pretty cool.

Anyway, today I’m feeling grateful for the relics and the random stories that find their way to us when we least expect it. And for the people we get to share them with.
Memorabilia: $25.
Experience: Priceless.

PS: Speaking of stories finding their way to us, here’s an update on my post from July 31, 2025. Can you believe Mama Hoakie’s great-granddaughter reached out to me after seeing my post on social media? She shared a bit more insight about Mama Hoakie. Another win for the internet. 🙌

What are you thankful for today?

Until next Thursday’s post…si Dios quiere.

“Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
-Unknown

“A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into.”
-A. Adams

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