A couple lost their wedding record 59 years ago — how it made its way back home is truly surreal

Sometimes, the precious things we lose as we navigate through life have a weird way of coming back to us. That was what happened to a couple from Phil and Donna Schmidt. The couple united in holy matrimony on August 21, 1966, and 2025 will mark the 59th year of their being together. However, they received an anniversary present long before that date arrived, and that too from a stranger. The gift was a vinyl record that held the sounds of one of the most important days of their lives, as reported by NBC affiliate KXAN-TV.

The couple tied the knot in Los Altos Hills, California, before moving to Austin, Texas, where Phil worked for 40 years as a professor at the University of Texas, as per the New York Post. After a long time in the city, they decided to relocate to Denver in 2022 but could not bring every single item they had with them. Therefore, they organized an estate sale. Their jazz collection was on sale, but what Phil and Donna had not realized was that the vinyl that had the sounds of their wedding day was in one of the jazz covers and so it was sold.

In 2024, a woman named Katie Ornelas bought the record from a thrift store in Texas. She thought it was a jazz record as the cover said “The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn.” However, she and her family were shocked to find that it was a recording of someone’s wedding day. They listened to the events that happened on that day and were moved. Ornelas was determined to hand the vinyl back to its rightful owners. She took the help of social media to identify Phil and Donna. Luckily, their daughter noticed it and reached out to Ornelas. According to ABC News, the two families met on Thanksgiving last year to hand over the record and become friends. “We had an estate sale that cleared out everything from our home that wouldn’t fit in our new apartment,” Phil said. “What a gift for us to have this recording back in time for our 59th next year!”

Marriage is a beautiful moment in almost everyone's life. To carry this special day, everybody wants their loved ones by their side. But for a woman named Amelia, her father being at her wedding was never a certainty. Sean Guinness from England was treated for melanoma in 2011 and was in remission. However, eight years later, it had come back and spread to his liver and intestine. He was only given 8 months to live at the time.

Guinness is now cancer-free after undergoing immunotherapy and will be able to walk his daughter down the aisle on her big day. "When I was really ill, Amelia wanted me to write a letter that could be read out on her wedding day," he said. "I feel blessed that I will now be there for her." The 60-year-old’s health concerns began after he noticed a mole on his leg that was bleeding and later identified as Stage 1A melanoma.