Thrift Store Find Holds Promise

Working through the grief of losing someone she loves, Megan Bartlett is intrigued by an item at a thrift store... 

by Megan Bartlett

So, here’s a little bittersweet story. 

My mom and I were at a thrift shop on Sunday and I found a DVD of Sleepless in Seattle, which I’ve seen a few times and liked. For $1, I thought it’d be nice to have for those nights I want the comfort of a happy ending. On the DVD cover was a return address label, a male name in Delaware County and I joked to my mom, “Hey, I could write to him, maybe he could be my next love!” We laughed and I didn’t think more about it. 

Tonight I got the movie out and decided to look him up. The first search result was an obituary. My “next love” died in 2016. 

He seemed like a good man, in love with his wife, co-owner of a local business. I marveled that this man (or his wife) had liked Sleepless in Seattle enough to put their address on it. Then I searched for his wife. She died in 2024– a Christian, an avid reader, a Sunday school teacher, a volunteer with Meals on Wheels in the county (which I also volunteered with.) I wondered if our paths had crossed. 

 I just paused and sent them both some love through the Universe. I wondered if all of the dead “know” each other somehow and if they know Paul. Anyway, all of this came from my curiosity about a name on a thrift store DVD. May the memory of those two souls live on.

Megan R. Bartlett is a ’95 BASH alum who now lives in the Philadelphia area. She is a licensed professional counselor and certified spiritual director who enjoys crafting, writing, and communing with Nature, especially her beloved cats.

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