GASTONIA, NC — A memory lost until Maria Sanchez’s husband found it by chance while renovating their new home on Ginger Drive. “We had a little pantry room in here. In the middle, between the pieces of wood. That’s where he found it,” Sanchez said of the picture pendant. The pendant is pretty old, Sanchez believes it’s from the 1970s. It also has paint damage on the back but the picture remains in tact. Sanchez immediately felt a connection and set out on a mission to return it to it’s rightful owner. “We’re here just a short time in this world. So moments are what are captured in pictures and that’s a pretty unique picture that I just I feel there’s something in that picture that I need to give it back,” explained Sanchez. Sanchez knows how important getting a loved one’s jewelry can be after they pass. Months after she lost her brother, someone returned his bracelet to her. “It was a piece of jewelry that he had when he was a child. As Sanchez would come to find out, the bracelet was meant to be a Christmas gift to her. One her brother never got to give. “He engraved my son’s, my baby’s name, and, um, he left it for my baby, but it was lost during the whole process,” continued Sanchez, “It’s everything because he was thinking about my baby.” Now, Sanchez wants share that same feeling by giving the gift of time, turning back the clock to a moment trapped in her kitchen for half a century. “I would just love to find the person who it belongs to or someone that would love to have this piece back in their heart,” said Sanchez. Most of the neighbors from decades ago, no longer live in the neighborhood so Sanchez posted about the pendant on Facebook. While she doesn’t know for sure who it is, a handful of people told her the man’s name is Jimmy Haynie. Sanchez was also told Haynie passed away. Now, she’s searching for his family.