Harriet Galbraith took the photos 65 years ago and gifted them to her late mother. She assumed they were lost, forever.
SAN ANTONIO — The search for a mystery bride ended in South Texas. A Virginia woman bought two bridal portraits at an auction sale near Lynchburg. Turns out, they belong to a 85-year-old bride in San Antonio.
“Look at this isn’t this exciting,” Harriet Galbraith said as she opened the package.
She still remembers the day, 65 years ago, when she took the photos at a studio in Washington D.C. It had been more than 30 years since she has seen them in person.
“It’s a nice dream come true because I thought I’d never, ever get these pictures back,” Galbraith said.
She had gifted them to her late mother who was last living with her sister in Virginia. Her sister was moving to a retirement community, so she held an estate sale.
“She got sick and was in her bedroom and never watched anything that happened or what went on during the auction,” Galbraith said.
During the auction, Sandra Poindexter was looking for picture frames. She ended up bidding $5 for the portraits.
“Before I could get back to my seat I thought, wow I wonder who this is, these pictures look beautiful,” Poindexter said.
Poindexter posted on Facebook to try and find the mystery bride. With the help of strangers, they tracked down Harriet. She had moved to San Antonio to be closer with her son after her husband passed.
“When I buy things like this at auctions or estate sales, I often wonder, what is the story behind this?” Poindexter said. “And now I know this story and it’s really inspired me.”
Harriet said these photos are a reminder of the love she shared with her late husband who she was married to for 56 years.
“I didn’t wear this in my wedding, but things worked out better if we eloped,” Galbraith said. “He came home with five days leave in the army and that’s what we did.”
She said she plans on eventually gifting them to her granddaughters. But before then, she will hang them up.
“I’m certainly not going to put them in the living room because I think that’s kind of vain,” she joked.
Sandra Poindexter said she now has a life-long friend in Harriet, the mystery bride.
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