ANCHORAGE, Alaska (NBC, KYMA/KECY) – A family in Anchorage, Alaska was reunited with a lost scrapbook after a woman bought it from a thrift store last year.
This isn’t what Christine Otutoa was expecting to see.
“I didn’t want to take the pictures out of…destroy the back of the photos, you know,” Otutoa shared.
When she bought what she thought was an empty, $4 photo album from Bishop’s Attic last year.
The album was actually someone’s scrapbook containing priceless moments from years past, from snapshots of someone’s childhood to family gatherings to wedding day.
“I don’t know if it was accidentally thrown away, but I’d rather return it and have somebody share these memories, get them back. You never know. It might mean a lot to them,” Otutoa expressed.
So she went to work trying to find the album’s rightful owner, and that’s when she met Allen Latuska, who was the blonde 10-year-old in the photos.
“Yeah, the old station wagon. I remember that,” Latuska said.
On Thursday, Latuska was finally reunited with the scrapbook after he last saw it 10 years ago. A chance opportunity to re-visit old memories and loved ones.
“A little emotional. The more I like, the emotional I am getting,” Latuska added.
As for how these memories ended up in a thrift shop? He’s unsure saying he thinks the scrapbook could have been stolen as his mom’s storage unit, the last place he saw it, was broken into a decade ago.
“They could have thrown it away, if they would have taken it, but they apparently decided to save it. That’s good,” Latuska remarked.
Some good luck, too, with it ending up in this stranger’s hands: A stranger who wanted these photos returned to a familiar home.
A price tag of a few bucks is worth more than Otutoa could have ever known.
“They are priceless, and I gladly pay her back the $4,” Latuska said.
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