In November 2023, 71-year-old Thea Culbreth Chamberlain was treated to a wonderful surprise from her local movie theater. The thing that took her breath away seemed straight out of a Hollywood tearjerker, but it wasn’t. It was an item intimately connected to her past—something she’d never seen before, yet there it sat, plain as day … her mother’s wallet.<\/p>\n\n
Floy Culbreth passed away in 2005 at the age of 87. But in 1958, when Thea was just six-years-old, Floy lost her wallet. Inside contained several mementos that served as snapshots of her mother’s life 65 years prior: some raffle tickets, a library card, and a few family photos. At the time, they might not have seemed like much to Floy. But to Thea, six and a half decades later, they were everything.<\/em><\/p>\n\n The wallet's discovery came during renovations of the Atlanta theater when a contractor found it hidden behind the walls. Christopher Escobar owned the Atlanta theater where Floy’s wallet was discovered. Escobar found the name Thea Culbreth written on a reminder card for a dental appointment. After an online search, he contacted the family and arranged a meeting at the theater to return the long-lost item.<\/p>\n\n Thea said, “I don’t even know how to say how flabbergasted I was. And it took a while for it to sink in.”<\/p>\n\n Chamberlain says the family plans to get the wallet’s contents framed—a preservation of memories they hope won’t be lost again.<\/p>\n\n There are many life lessons and wonderful family memories which can influence succeeding generations. We must make an effort to not let them slip away and learn from them. <\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3960,4042,4091,4144,4150,4245,4393,4394,4453,4495,4497,4546,4597],"tax_ctp_topics":[386,395],"class_list":["post-35153","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-family","tax_ctp_tags-generations","tax_ctp_tags-grandparents-day","tax_ctp_tags-heritage","tax_ctp_tags-history","tax_ctp_tags-influence","tax_ctp_tags-lost","tax_ctp_tags-lostness","tax_ctp_tags-memory","tax_ctp_tags-mothers-day","tax_ctp_tags-mothers","tax_ctp_tags-news-that-illustrates","tax_ctp_tags-parents"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nPossible Preaching Angle:<\/h2>\n\n