A widow was reunited with the wedding dress she believed she had lost after a viral appeal on social media.
Catherine Weir had her dress and a priceless painted portrait of her wedding day returned on the birthday of her late husband.
The 65-year-old was stunned when she was contacted about the missing items after Kimberley Paterson posted about the find on Facebook.
While cleaning the attic of her new house in Renfrew, Kimberley came across items that the previous owners had left behind.
She told Glasgow Live: “My family and I moved into our new house at the end of August. We had a lot of plans to renovate the property so we started looking up the attic to see what we could do from there, when we noticed these things had been abandoned by previous owners.
“We discovered a poster tube that had been airmailed from Australia over 30 years ago. I laughed when the stamp was the day of my first birthday. We opened it to see a portrait of a lady in a wedding dress and knew immediately that we had to track down the people who had left.
“Then we opened the box she was lying next to and quickly discovered that it was the dress the woman in the picture was wearing. I knew we had to try to contact the people who owned these items there I knew they were to be missed and of great sentimental value.
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On the subject of matching items
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On the subject of matching items
“I decided to post a post on Facebook to track them down, but to my surprise it went viral quickly overnight and received numerous messages with advice and people pointing to a name. Cathrine’s niece had contacted us about us to say who she was and where she lived so that I could reunite her with the objects. “
Kimberley added, “It was magical when she told us how much it meant and how much they were missing. It made everything worthwhile. I brought her back to her on Tuesday, which was her husband’s birthday, which made it even more special It just felt like he was looking down and making sure she got it back that day so she knew he was thinking of her.
“I couldn’t believe our luck and I am so amazed we were able to bring it back to Catherine on such a special day. Things really happen for a reason.”
Catherine had lived in the house on Cairngorm Crescent for two decades but left after her husband died three years ago. In the rush to move, the items were left in the attic.
She said, “I moved out and had just lost my husband. My sons and I were a little hectic and got a lot of things done. I actually thought to myself last week, ‘I think I threw my wedding dress away.” I was upset about this, but I just thought these things were happening, there isn’t much you can do about it.
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On the subject of matching items
“Then I got about 50 calls from people I know were on Facebook and I was reunited with them. I was really pleased – I thought I would never see it again. It’s just beautiful, these things to have.
“My grandpa painted the picture when he was living in Australia at the time I got married. My dad sent him over the pictures and he sent the picture back so it’s about 40 years old.
“It’s going to be our 40th wedding anniversary next week. It’s funny after all these years this week has come. I was 24 when we got married at Renfrew Parish Church. My husband was funny, weird – he was one of these people, everyone just liked.
“I have such fond memories of my wedding day, the only disaster was that I woke up the morning it snowed – in April!
“My two grown sons loved the story too, they hadn’t even seen the portrait so it’s great to have it back and I think I’ll be hanging it in the bedroom now.”
