Photographs have a special meaning for most of us.
It’s a reminder of simpler times with how it captures a place or a loved one’s smile so vividly in our memory. Pictures serve as a way to keep those cherish moments alive in any way possible.
A man in Alabama had a harrowing experience losing his late wife’s photograph that was blown away by the furious winds of Hurricane Sally. Luckily, a group of strangers were determined to help out the man however way they could and were successfully able to retrieve the lost photograph. This is their story.
Scott Christmas has always kept the photograph of his late wife, Amy Christmas, on his Jeep’s dashboard ever since the picture was taken back in April 2017 when she got back home from the hospital after suffering her first seizure.
“A seizure that let us know her brain cancer had progressed,” he mentioned. “The picture in question has sat in the same spot on the dash of her Jeep, now my Jeep for 3 years now.”
About 3 years ago, Amy, unfortunately, lost her battle with brain cancer.
Scott has since kept several pictures of his late wife around to help with the grief and to help him move past the terrible incident.
One fateful day, Scott and his daughter were traveling to Point Clear to visit Amy’s grave. However, nature had other ideas in mind.
Hurricane Sally had blown strong winds throughout the region and was just on its way to pass. Before Scott knew it, a gust of wind crept inside his vehicle and swept the photograph right out of his dashboard and into the air!
“We stopped to get out and check and as soon as I opened the door a gust came through because my little girls went the whistle and the picture in the question took off,” said Scott.
Scott was completely defeated after repeatedly attempting to find the photograph. It was in his darkest hour that Scott was starting to get tagged on Facebook. He started reading the comments on a post titled, “What’s Happening in Fairhope” and a shrivel of hope still remained.
Kimberly Daniels Hansen had posted that her husband found the photo once they returned to their Fairhope home to check on the aftermath left by Hurricane Sally. Others on the group quickly commented and identified the woman as Scott’s late wife, Amy.
Incredibly, the photograph was found and returned to its rightful place!
“Suddenly I saw something laying over here in the grass… It was upside down. A piece of paper I thought. I lifted it up and saw it was a beautiful woman on the picture… And thought–oh who could that be,” Hansen stated.
A little wet and damp, but still in overall great condition. Scott had a few words to share with the couple who’s heroic act stole the spotlight.
“Thank you Kimberly and Bjarke. You all were light within a storm.” He warmly wrote.
Scott will be sure to be more careful next time, especially with a storm as powerful as Sally. Although the storm did land as a category 2, it did strengthen it’s winds as it went up the Florida panhandle to strike places such as Pensacola and the lower Alabama region.
The storm left mass floodings and destruction in its wake amassing the cost of damages upwards of $2 billion.
You can never be too careful with your family’s memorabilia. After all, they’re the last physical piece of them you have once the dust clears and they’ve made their way on to the next voyage.
For Scott, he was definitely fortunate to have a wonderful community to help him in his time of need. He’ll make sure to hold on safely to his photograph for a very, very long time.
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