SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - More than a quarter of a century ago, a woman's family heirloom was stolen from her front porch. Her family searched everywhere for a replacement of the vintage Christmas wreath but after 25 years, they found their Christmas miracle.
The wreath was stolen from Beverlee Porada's house in the 1990s. The vintage 1950s Santa Claus wreath had sentimental value to Porada as her grandmother owned it first and passed it down to her.
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Family surprises mom with replacement vintage wreath stolen 25 years ago
More than 25 years ago, someone took a vintage Christmas wreath right off of Beverlee Porada's front porch. Years of searching later, her children tracked down a replacement.
"It was bought from Sears Roebuck, probably on Gratiot and Van Dyke," Porada said.
Her children have never given up on trying to replace that vintage wreath.
"Every year since it's been gone, we went on eBay but everybody wants like $300 and, unfortunately, we didn't have that," her daughter, Samantha Porada, said.
But they didn't stop.
"All of us siblings have searched for years to try and find this wreath," Sarah Wolicki said. "We really wanted this year to be the perfect year, the perfect Christmas and it's not going to be, we already know that."
Sarah is referencing the loss of their father who passed away in July from cancer. In an attempt to bring their mother some bit of joy this season, the family posted the wreath story online in hopes someone would help.
"It blew up from there. We went to Facebook marketplace and found one listed from Canton, Ohio," Sarah said.
But there was a slight problem.
"(They said) there's one person ahead of you. This wreath has been posted since September, I said 'no way'," her daughter, Jessica Becker, said.
But as luck would have it, that person backed out and the kids were able to get the vintage wreathe after all.
It's several decades old and needed a little TLC, but it's theirs.
"I actually took another Christmas decoration. I had took 3 bulbs out, put them in. PUt some plastic cement, got it ready, and we hung it up with an airline cable and nobody's climbing up there and stealing this right now," her son, David Porada, said.
The family was able to give her the early Christmas present and surprise their mom.
"It was amazing, I was in shock, they surprised me that's for sure," she said.
The entire family believes they had a little help making it happen THIS Christmas, after losing their father just months before.
"I'm sure in her heart she knows my dad had something to do with it," Jessica said.
"I said it was my husband smiling down from heaven," Beverlee said.