Stories from Writing The Road Home Novel~Returning Thrift Store Treasures

In The Road Home, Cadence finds a vintage recipe box at the antique store. A name is written on all the cards and she wonders about the person and why they abandoned their recipe box

With the help of her boss’s daughter, they find a relative of the woman and Cadence attempts to return the box.

You’ll have to read my novel to find out what happens, but returning thrift store treasures is a fun pastime that my sister and I have both done several times.

I found the book above at the thrift store on the “fill a bag with books for $1” day. I might have left it there because I have no use for a vintage German school book.

When I flipped through the pages, I discovered these sweet flowers pressed in the middle of the book. Maybe I’m a sentimental sap for a vintage story but I couldn’t leave the book and those little old flowers at the thrift store. I wondered who owned this book and why the flowers were important enough to press and save for 70+ years.

I crammed the book into my bag and went home. Deciphering the German took awhile. I asked my German teacher friend for help and we also used Google translate. We figured out that this was a High German junior high textbook.

My next step was to search the website Find a Grave and search for the names inside the front cover.

Martha and Elmer Kugel—siblings—were my best leads. I searched and read their obituaries and clicked descendants until I found living family on Facebook.

The woman who replied to my message said they weren’t sure if it was their relation and her parents worried it was a scam. I said “No, I would love to get it back to your family if anyone is interested. “

After they confirmed that this book belonged to her father’s grandmother, we made arrangements to mail it home.

The family insisted that I allow them to pay me for the book, but if you remember, I bought it in a stuff a bag full of books for $1 sale.

A few weeks later, I received this lovely letter and picture in the mail.

Iowa Schoolhouse Ludlow #4

Getting this book to Martha’s family was a fun experience.
I’ve also returned land records, a 1930s teacher review, a 1947 Jr. High diploma, pictures, and scrapbook pages.

I will always wonder about the people and their stories when I find items at the thrift store. Who knows? Maybe my next book will come from another thrift store find.

Check out my Pinterest board to see the real life recipe box I found that inspired The Road Home.

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