A serendipitous thrift store find in Austin, Texas has led to an unexpected reunion: a 1966 wedding record, misplaced for decades, is now set to return to its rightful owners. Dr. Phil Schmidt and Donna Packer, who solidified their union in Los Altos Hills, California, on Aug. 21, 1966, had inadvertently parted with their cherished wedding vinyl during a move from their longtime Austin residence to Denver, as reported byKXAN. The record, a time capsule of their vows and joy, had been secreted away in the jacket of another album.
The Schmidts, after calling Austin home for over four decades while Phil contributed his expertise to the University of Texas at Austin, found themselves residing in a new setting, a retirement community near their daughter and family, marking the end of an era that spanned 46 years in the Allandale neighborhood, “We had an estate sale that cleared out everything from our home that wouldn’t fit in our new apartment,” Donna lamented in an email toKXAN, expressing a sense of wonder at what other memories might have slipped through the cracks during the move.
Months after the estate sale, Katie Ornelas, an Austinite, stumbled upon the misfiled record, which held the intimate moments from the Schmidt’s matrimonial ceremony, while she was expecting to hear the tunes of “The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn,” a live jazz recording from 1956. Her discovery was initially met with surprise, “We put it on, and we were just instantly, just connected with that record and wanted to make sure it found its way back to its family, because it was in a different sleeve [than the vinyl cover],” she described in her conversation withKXAN.
The story of this nostalgic find not only tugged at heartstrings but also managed to bridge the distance between Austin and Denver; it reached the Schmidt’s daughter’s best friend who had perused the tale online throughYahoo Lifestyle, leading to the eventual confirmation from the Schmidt family that they were indeed the voices behind the vinyl, “We celebrated our 58th Anniversary last August,”Donna reflected, “What a gift for us to have this recording back in time for our 59th next year!” she toldKXAN, a sentiment echoing through the years and soon to punctuate their near six decades of marriage.
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