Cape Breton woman reunited with lost family heirloom

CTV Atlantic: Treasured bracelet returned A Cape Breton family is breathing sigh of relief after being reunited with a priceless family heirloom.

A Cape Breton family is breathing a sigh of relief after being reunited with a priceless family heirloom.

Gladys Henry was distraught after she learned a jewelry store had accidentally given her treasured bracelet to the wrong customer.

The bracelet was a gift from the family of Henry’s deceased husband and her daughter had taken it to the jeweler to have it repaired.

Meanwhile, Shawn Dilney had gone to the same jewelry story to pick up a gift from her deceased husband.

“The stub was my husband’s stub and he’s deceased,” says Dilney. “So, I didn’t know what he put in the jewelers. I thought he had bought me a new piece of jewelry, but before he died he didn’t have a chance to give it to me.”

Uncertain about what she was picking up at the store, Dilney had no idea she had been given someone else’s family heirloom.

Dilney realized the bracelet wasn’t hers after spotting a picture of it on social media. The owner of the jewelry store rewarded Dilney for returning the jewelry.

“I wasn’t expecting it, not at all, but it came in handy and off I went,” says Dilney. “When you know something is not yours, you don’t expect to get anything for it.”

Henry says she never thought she would see the bracelet again and is thrilled is have it back.

“It feels great, it brings back all kinds of feelings about my husband,” she says.

Henry’s daughter, Deborah Henry-Horton, says she is just happy the family heirloom has been returned to its rightful owner.

“Very excited, very relieved, perhaps my mother will trust me again,” says Henry-Horton. “She said, ‘put it on your wrist,’ and I said, ‘no, I don’t want anything to do with that bracelet again. You keep it, it’s yours.’”

The family is still hoping to have the bracelet fixed locally, but they admit it will be hard to trust someone with something that means so much to them.

"I would like that. I would like to have it and be able to wear it," says Henry. "I can't wear this now, but it means as every bit to me as my husband did."

Wth files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore