WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — At 92 years old, Mal Osborn still treasures his letterman jacket from the University of Maine. He remembers this time fondly - having lettered several times in track and field.
"I ran the mile, half mile, two miles, and relays," he explained, "It's an antique, because I've had it for 70 years. That coat I still use... and people comment on it - didn't believe I really ran track!"
About a month ago, this precious keepsake was lost - somewhere in the Winston-Salem area.
"I must've thrown it on top of the roof of the car and drove down the street," Osborn said.
"I know how much this coat meant to my dad," said his daughter, Beverly Osborn Amick, "And he very nonchalantly mentioned to me that he misplaced his coat, and I thought, well, it's going to show up because how many people have a University of Maine track letter jacket from 1952? It has 'Mal' on the front of it."
Both Osborn and his daughter spent weeks retracing his steps and looking in lost-and-founds, asking everyone whether they'd come across it.
But, no luck. So, Amick turned to Facebook - crafting a post explaining the situation, with a picture of her father, wearing the coat.
"I got a lot of responses and some people said you need to make this public," she said, "So, I went into my settings to make it public and then all of a sudden… My daughter messages me at 6 o'clock and says mom you have one thousand shares!"
In less than a day, they got word the jacket had been located - someone knew someone who had it! They'd found it in their yard the day after Halloween - covered in leaves.
"She didn’t know if somebody had worn it trick-or-treating, or if it had just been dropped there. But she didn’t know whose it was, so she wanted to hold onto it hoping that she would find the owner."
Osborn will pick up the jacket this week - after it gets a few small repairs. He's still surprised, and so grateful for all the help.
