A Citrus County woman has just been reunited with a lost treasure she thought she would never see again.
- Citrus County woman receives once-in-a-lifetime gift
- Deceased son made personalized jewelry box 39 years prior
- Nursing home worker made the connection
A wooden jewelry box made its way back to Olga Selvester almost four decades after her son Robert first gave it to her for Mother's Day. He had made it when he was 13 years old.
"He said ‘Mommy, you know that I don't have any money and Mother's Day is coming and I want to give you something special, so this is what I made in school,'" she said. "So he handed me the box with my name on the cover."
At some point the box was lost, and a few years ago Robert passed away. Selvester thought she would never see the handmade item again.
Linda Freiwald works at the nursing home where Selvester lives. She was at a flea market recently and saw a box with Selvester's name on it.
"I put my hand on it," recalled Freiwald, "and I said to my friend, I know this person, should I buy it?"
She bought the trinket, returning it to Selvester right before Mother's Day this year.
"Now here it is, 39 years later, and he still gave it to me for Mother's Day," Selvester said. "I can't explain how happy I am because this is a boy that I lost."
Selvester said she and her family moved a lot, which is probably how the box was lost. She says she's not going to lose it again.