It was nearly two weeks ago when an email showed up in my inbox from someone who had crossed paths with us least two decades ago while we were living in Kaaawa. At that time, he and his family lived up the coast in Laie and, if I recall correctly, his daughter had been in middle school with the twin daughters of neighbors and good friends of ours. I think we all socialized at least once, but hadn’t crossed paths since.

His email explained he and his wife had moved from Laie and are now living in Kaaawa, up at the end of the road that runs from the fire station and up the valley along Makaua Stream. They’re house is up where the road dead-ends, pretty close to where we used to live.

He thought he recalled having met us before, but couldn’t really recall how we had connected.

“Everybody got old and drifted apart,” he wrote. “Life is progressively weird.”

Then came the story.

I was doing yard work by the stream bed, Makaua stream. Found tucked under a big outcropping of rock an old plastic Safeway bag with obviously stolen items from you. Included cards that have your name and the name Meda Lind. Most of this is in bad shape, corroded items and such. The bag clearly has been there for years. Contact me and we can arrange a time to meet and I can give this stuff to you.

He added:

There’s mostly jewelry in the stash, some nice, some like costume pieces. Two ratty passport covers. A nail file and trimming kit that’s falling apart. It was amazing to find and go through. Lucky there were some cards with the Lind name on them. And that I knew how to track you down.

Two photos were attached. One showed the Safeway bag, another some of the contents spread out on the ground.

Just click any of the photos to see a larger version.

Other photos followed showing where the bag had been found, tucked under a large rock at the side of the stream, which is perhaps 10-12 feet below.

One was taken from above, showing the top of the rock in the center of the photo, and the dry stream bed below, in the background.

He had my attention. How long had these things been sitting in a plastic Safeway bag hidden under a boulder less than 200 years from where we lived for 28 years?

Our house had been burglarized three times during the years we lived in Kaaawa. First time was in November 2002. Number two was in January 2009. And the third and final time was in March 2014. It wasn’t possible to tell from those initial photos which burglary they dated back to.

One clue: How long would it take a pair of heavy metal nail clippers to turn into a rusted relic? That’s how long this stuff had been waiting to be found.

And what amazing luck that when the swag was found years later, the bag contained some items tying them to us, and was found by someone who remembered us and tracked us down.

At this point, he offered to put all the found items in a box and mail it to us. And he did.

• Coming soon
Kaaawa Lost and Found, Part 2: The Burglaries
Kaaawa Lost and Found, Part 3: The Unboxing