A Nanaimo man knows what it means for family mementos to be lost and found.
So hesa国际传媒檚 determined to do whatever he can to return 10 photo albums to a family he doesnsa国际传媒檛 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 didnsa国际传媒檛 get back everything that was taken.
sa国际传媒淏its of history and little trinkets and items that were passed on from my grandparents,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭here were a lot of those things that as far as value goes in the marketplace, are worth next to nothing, but theysa国际传媒檙e priceless when you actually consider what they mean to yourself.sa国际传媒�
A couple of years later, a stranger came across more of Suikersa国际传媒檚 familysa国际传媒檚 belongings which had been separately mislaid sa国际传媒� photos and letters and documents sa国际传媒� 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.
sa国际传媒淪omebody made the effort and reached out to somebody in my family to help us retrieve these items and thatsa国际传媒檚 in part why itsa国际传媒檚 so important that these photos and documents that I recovered get back to the familysa国际传媒a国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚 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.sa国际传媒�
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 didnsa国际传媒檛 think twice.
sa国际传媒淚 said, sa国际传媒榯hese are somebodysa国际传媒檚 and they mean something to somebody. I cansa国际传媒檛 let them go to the landfill,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� 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 hasnsa国际传媒檛 had success locating family members. Hesa国际传媒檚 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 sa国际传媒淸looks] into it a little bit more, and unfortunately every avenue that I took led to a dead end.sa国际传媒�
More than once hesa国际传媒檚 considered throwing the albums away, but sa国际传媒渕orallysa国际传媒� cansa国际传媒檛 bring himself to discard something he says is irreplaceable.
sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 a story, theresa国际传媒檚 a history, theresa国际传媒檚 culture,sa国际传媒� Suiker said. sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 so much that when you look over it, at times it has almost brought me to tears when Isa国际传媒檓 looking through it because this is somebodysa国际传媒檚 life in picture form.sa国际传媒�
Suiker can be contacted at bms@sasktel.net.
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