Priceless decorations returned after Hurricane Milton

Reporter: Claire Galt Writer: Elyssa Morataya
Published: Updated:

A plastic bin washed ashore in Punta Gorda during Hurricane Milton like a message in a bottle. The container, labeled “Christmas,” had antique decorations inside, and the woman who found it wanted to find its rightful owner.

Now, she’s accomplished her mission.

The way these two ladies hug each other, smile, and laugh, you’d never guess it was the first time they met.

Nancey Donnelly said it’s hard not to be cheerful when thanking the woman who found her Mikasa crystal nativity set and all her colorful Christmas decorations.

“We will become really good friends for sure,” said Donnelly.

Diane Byrne reached out days after Hurricane Milton whipped through Charlotte County. She said that a tub of Christmas decorations washed ashore in the surge near her Punta Gorda Isles home.

Diane didn’t know who the decorations belonged to, but she knew the owner had to be missing them.

“When we opened the bin and we saw it was in this really nice box. ‘This is Mikasa.’ I thought, ‘Okay, well, Mikasa is nice crystal!’,” said Byrne.

After the WINK News story aired earlier this month, Diane posted the link in several Facebook groups. As it turns out, the owner lives right across the street.

“I was like, ‘Oh, somebody posted their Christmas decorations’. And then I looked at it, and I was like, ‘Oh, wow, those are my Christmas decorations’,” said Donnelly.

“It was just crucial that I got this back to Donnelly, I kept thinking if something that was so precious to me, even things that don’t really have a literal value, they have the emotional value, and it’s all those wonderful memories,” said Byrne.

Byrne was right, the decorations mean so much to Donnelly.

“My mother gave these to my husband and I on our first Christmas together. So, I’ve had them for 28 years,” said Donnelly. “Yeah, and my mom is no longer with us, so they just mean the world to me.”

So special that Donnelly decided to put the nativity set up early this year, and she’s got a feeling her new friend will be making the trip across the street to see it in all its glory.

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