A charity shop in England received a vintage wedding dress in early June that at first glance seemed like an ordinary donation.
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Posted by St Gemma's Hospice on Wednesday, June 10, 2015
The lace 1950s gown would have been just one of many that St. Gemma's Hospice Charity Shops receives daily except for the sweet handwritten note attached to the dress, first spotted by Mashable.
Posted by St Gemma's Hospice Charity Shops on Tuesday, June 9, 2015
"I wish any lady who takes this dress to have a life with her loved one 56 years like I did," the notes reads. "Happy years. I was a Lucky man to marry a lady like mine."
It includes three letters at the end that look like "PTO," which St. Gemma's believes may stand for "please try on."
The employees at the Leeds charity shop - which donates to a hospice that cares for cancer patients - were so touched by the handwritten plea that they posted it to their Facebook on Wednesday asking if anyone knew who the man was.
They received an outpouring of support because of the touching note, and by Thursday morning, they had found the mystery donor.
We have news! We have found the kind gentleman who donated the beautiful vintage wedding dress to St Gemma's Hospice...
Posted by St Gemma's Hospice on Thursday, June 11, 2015
From St. Gemma's:
We have news! We have found the kind gentleman who donated the beautiful vintage wedding dress to St Gemma's Hospice this week. He is over the moon that we are giving somebody the opportunity to buy the gorgeous gown on ebay. He is a big fan of St Gemma's Hospice and is overwhelmed with the International attention that his late wife's dress is generating. He is so happy and proud that the Hospice will benefit from funds raised by the auction of the dress. He wishes to remain anonymous and we fully respect his decision but he is watching the media frenzy with interest and thinks it is wonderful. We have thanked him so much for his kindness and he would like to thank everyone for their support.
"Brilliant result, [I] can imagine his pride and the pride his late wife would have felt for her beloved husband," one Facebook user wrote. "I totally respect his wish for anonymity, but pleased that he now knows we think he is amazing."
The dress is currently on sale through eBay and is describe as a vintage lace, size-small dress with peplum and a netting skirt with lace flowers. Though there is a stain under the netting, St. Gemma's said that it can't be seen unless the netting is lifted and the dress is otherwise in great condition.
If you're superstitious and want a wedding dress that led to what sounds like it was an amazing marriage, this dress might be worth buying - current bidding is at £560 or $868 at the time of this post, and St. Gemma's also ships internationally.