A truly unexpected treasure!

Volunteering for the Rowans Hospice Charity is a great way to meet new people and find exciting gems which have been donated to our Retail shops to generate income for the Charity.
Meet Janet, one of our volunteers at the Petersfield Emporium. Janet volunteers for one afternoon a week and had this incredible story of family history to tell.
One blustery Autumnal afternoon I was volunteering in the Petersfield Emporium as I usually do. I love coming into the shop, meeting the customers and discovering what treasures have been donated. On this particular day I was working on the till, serving customers and accepting donations, however I never expected to see the amazing treasure that was about to be purchased.
A customer approached the till wishing to purchase three vintage postcards. As I turned the postcards over to check the price, I was astounded when one was addressed to my Grandmother, in her maiden name, whilst she was living in London. The postcard was dated 1917 and described a holiday in Dorset from a friend of hers.
I could not believe it!
Feeling rather stunned and shocked I went over to the vintage table, where we display all of the postcards and to my absolute amazement I found several more postcards that had been sent to my Grandmother both before and after she was married as well as postcards sent to other members of my family.
The most poignant postcard was one sent to my Grandfather from my Dad and my Uncle whilst they were on holiday on the Isle of Wight with my Grandmother.
Having a lovely holiday Daddy, been swimming today. Love Eric and Douglas.
I gave some of the cards to my brother at Christmas and he was also moved by them, our Dad passed away in 2019 and we both agree he would have loved to have seen them.
It is amazing that these pieces of my family history have made their way to me. They were originally sent to London and then later when the family moved, they went to Southampton, and now so many years later they have ended up in Petersfield, in the Emporium, only to be brought to the counter on the only afternoon I was working…it is just incredible!
I feel it was meant to be and my brother and I will treasure these mementos of our family.
A friend told me, “It is a sign that your family are surrounding you with love from afar and always will be.”
I am very grateful to the Rowans Hospice Charity and to the donator.
If you would like to volunteer for the Charity you can find out more via our website here: Volunteer for Rowans Hospice Charity