DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) — Ryan Florios has an appreciation for history.
“I went this year to the Flat Rock Speedway antique show— I’m not really a collector. I just pick up little pieces of neat little history. And there was a stack of postcards. They were all in pretty good shape,” said Florios.
In that pile of postcards was one that held a lot of value — not when it comes to money, but when it comes to meaning.
Bob Brownson grew up in River Rouge, Michigan in the 1940s. His mother, he was proud to say, was the first woman elected to the school board there.
“My mother had passed away in 1979. And I have almost nothing in my possession that actually has her penmanship, which is perfect cursive Palmer Method script and nobody does that today. It’s quite amazing,” said Brownson.
That handwriting is preserved on a postcard that his mother sent many years ago while attending a school board convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
“This was a penny postcard, and penny of postcards got the least amount of attention by the post office. Come to find out, you know, mom came home: ‘Did you get my card,’ and 73 years later, there it is,” said Brownson.
The postcard, which was sent from the Boston area on October 5, 1949, is now back in the Boston area, where Brownson lives today. It’s a full-circle moment — all thanks to Florios.
“A little too much time, free time on my lunch,” Florios joked. “And I just kind of started checking into it.”
His recent search led him to Brownson on Facebook. Thinking he may be a relative, Florios reached out on a whim.
“I figured, you know, maybe this would be worth something to someone, maybe it might be something they would want. And that’s why I started kind of tracking it down. And I’ll be darned if you know, I didn’t make out,” said Florios.
Brownson was incredibly thankful that it did all work out.
“I must admit that I got a little emotional about that. But I thank you so much, my brother. You’ve done something very wonderful,” said Brownson in a conversation with Florios.
This story was originally reported by Alexandra Bahou on wxyz.com.
