It was an act of kindness that came at the perfect time for this grieving Ohio mother.
Stephanie Clyburn was overwhelmed with emotion when a long-lost baby book containing the infant hand prints of her now-adult son was retuned to her just months after he was killed in a car crash — all thanks to some strangers who moved into her old family home and found the tome in the attic.
The precious keepsake had been missing for some 20 years — and was located just in time to help Clyburn to get through her first Mother’s day without her son, Brystin Coldiron, who was killed in a car crash last November at age 22.
“I’m a firm believer in God, and I think that was his way of being like, ‘Here, Mom. Happy Mother’s Day.’ I don’t know. I just feel it,” Clyburn told WKRC Wednesday.
The book initially went missing when Clyburn gave the treasure to her mother to hold onto, but after several moves, it vanished.
When Cassidy Massie and her husband moved into the Greenfield village house that previously belonged to Clyburn’s mom, they noticed some stuff was left in the attic.
“When the appraisal happened, we got the pictures and all that,” Massie told the news station.
“And one of the pictures that showed there was a bunch of stuff up in the attic. And I told my husband, I was like, ‘I’m going to go up there at some point.’”
She found the book and made it her mission to track down the rightful owner, using Facebook to see if anyone knew Clyburn, who at the time had the last name West.
“If somebody found something like that of ours, I would want them to reach out if they found it,” Massie reportedly said.
Clyburn was made aware of the social media post and pair connected last Sunday – Mother’s Day.
“I couldn’t believe that she had it, but once I saw it, I was like, ‘This is it. This is it,’’ Clyburn said. “And like, I was excited, but peace came over me, like, I have from his beginning to his end.”
There were other keepsakes of Coldiron’s childhood left in the attic that Clyburn was thrilled to get back as she continued to mourn the loss of her child.
“Being a stranger, they could have tossed it out,” she added.
“I’m very appreciative of her. I think if anybody ever comes across something like this, you always try to find its owner. You don’t know what they’re going through.”
Read the full article here