Be on the lookout. It’s there.

Mildew and magic.

What? You’re kidding, right?

I’m not. Still, could you possibly imagine that an unpleasant encounter with mildew would lead me down a road to discovering Cupid?

Not in a million years.

But it did.

I’d done a thorough job of sorting and releasing decades (and decades) of family heirlooms inherited at my mother’s death. Granted, several items were stuffed back in a closet while I struggled with the nostalgic conundrum of “I don’t know what to do with this,” but felt too guilty to give away. (You’ve been there?)

My nostalgic procrastinations finally caught up with me. The not-so-lovely scent of mildew wafted out of a closet. The closet where I’d stashed my remaining “I don’t know what to do with this,” family heirlooms. This unwelcome mildew aroma overrode any remaining guilt I had about releasing the items.

One of the heirlooms was a humongous, 21” x 25,” framed photograph, 110+ years old, of my Ukrainian Jewish grandparents. They reached Ellis Island in 1906. I wanted that photograph! The frame, however, overpoweringly reeked of mildew, burning my eyes. Fortunately, my inner Girl Scout, alive and well, stepped right up to the fore. Those, long ago, Girl Scout carving skills just kicked right in. Probably way too late for a merit badge, you think?

Settling the heavy frame in a plastic garbage bag, I began carving away at the framed photograph’s backing, tossing the detritus into the plastic bag. Call it what you will - luck, serendipity, whatever - just then, I peered down at the contents accumulating in the garbage bag. OMG, face up, there was an old, old, sepia photographic reproduction. It had been utilized as the backing for my grandparent’s 110+ year old framed photo!

Yowzers! Entitled “Cupid Awake,” dated 1897, and the photographer’s name was present. My google addiction kicked right in. On it in a flash! Discovered a series of these same old photographic reproductions, for sale, on eBay and elsewhere, ranging in price from $20 to $200.

Now, c’mon, who would have thought that, behind a 110+ year old framed photograph, I’d find a lonely Cupid? I still wanted my grandparents’ long ago photograph, but an ancient reproduction of a bare-chested Cupid cherub, holding arrows? Um, not so much. Mensch that I am, a loving, and non-mildewed home was found for Ms. Cupid. After a 110+ years, she could finally see the light of day, happily ensconced on the living room wall of an appreciative and kitsch-loving photographer friend.

So there!

Oh, wait, wait. Don’t run away just yet! The surprise unveiling of Cupid was a much needed reminder for me. A reminder that we, humans, can still take breath in the midst of life’s challenges, inclusive of odiferous mildew. Just be on the lookout. Your unseen gift may be peeking out at you. We never know, do we?