A Nanaimo man knows what it means for family mementos to be lost and found.
So he乌鸦传媒檚 determined to do whatever he can to return 10 photo albums to a family he doesn乌鸦传媒檛 know.
Suiker had while moving back to British Columbia from the Prairies in 2015. While the truck was recovered and Abbotsford Police solved the case, Suiker didn乌鸦传媒檛 get back everything that was taken.
乌鸦传媒淏its of history and little trinkets and items that were passed on from my grandparents,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭here were a lot of those things that as far as value goes in the marketplace, are worth next to nothing, but they乌鸦传媒檙e priceless when you actually consider what they mean to yourself.乌鸦传媒�
A couple of years later, a stranger came across more of Suiker乌鸦传媒檚 family乌鸦传媒檚 belongings which had been separately mislaid 乌鸦传媒� photos and letters and documents 乌鸦传媒� and ensured the family got them back. Thanks to that kindness, Suiker was able to hold the ship ticket that his grandmother and aunt had used for passage from the Netherlands to Canada in 1928.
乌鸦传媒淪omebody made the effort and reached out to somebody in my family to help us retrieve these items and that乌鸦传媒檚 in part why it乌鸦传媒檚 so important that these photos and documents that I recovered get back to the family乌鸦传媒ξ谘淮綕 he said. 乌鸦传媒淚 may not necessarily know what item or picture or document in particular will have that effect on somebody else because it means something different to everybody.乌鸦传媒�
Suiker spied the 10 photo albums at an estate sale in Nanaimo in 2018. He was fascinated at the old pictures taken in Latvia at least as far back as the 1930s, and when advised the albums were to be thrown away, he didn乌鸦传媒檛 think twice.
乌鸦传媒淚 said, 乌鸦传媒榯hese are somebody乌鸦传媒檚 and they mean something to somebody. I can乌鸦传媒檛 let them go to the landfill,乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕 Suiker said.
The albums seem to have belonged to Juris Bergins, who died in 2018, and therefore to his daughters Kristine Bergins and Monika Young, but Suiker hasn乌鸦传媒檛 had success locating family members. He乌鸦传媒檚 made inquiries at a funeral home, followed other leads that fizzled, and even contacted a newspaper in Latvia. Every few months he looks at the albums, he said, and 乌鸦传媒淸looks] into it a little bit more, and unfortunately every avenue that I took led to a dead end.乌鸦传媒�
More than once he乌鸦传媒檚 considered throwing the albums away, but 乌鸦传媒渕orally乌鸦传媒� can乌鸦传媒檛 bring himself to discard something he says is irreplaceable.
乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 a story, there乌鸦传媒檚 a history, there乌鸦传媒檚 culture,乌鸦传媒� Suiker said. 乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 so much that when you look over it, at times it has almost brought me to tears when I乌鸦传媒檓 looking through it because this is somebody乌鸦传媒檚 life in picture form.乌鸦传媒�
Suiker can be contacted at bms@sasktel.net.
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