By Esther Lauaki
A Melton man has been reunited with a long lost book 60 years after it was gifted to him for Christmas as a boy.
Terry Brooks received the Roy Rogers’ Adventures No. 2 as a present from hisparents when the family lived in Melton in 1958.
A handwritten message: “To Terry, Love Mum & Dad. Christmas 1958” was inscribed on the second page.
Mr Brooks said that when the family relocated to Bacchus Marsh the novel was misplaced during the moving process – not to be seen again.
“A lot of stuff was stored in my parents house,” he told Star Weekly.
“They lived in Melton before moving to Bacchus Marsh and stored our belongings in the garage.
“My father, years later, sold the contents of his garage when he decided to downsize and the book was among those things.”
The book last month landed in the hands of Melton resident and treasure collector Colleen Downie who advertised it for sale on Facebook.
“The book was in fantastic condition for a 70 year old book and had an inscription on the second page from his Mum,” Ms Downie said.
“It must have passed through many hands in all those years and ended up in my shop.
“After speaking to the person I purchased the book off in Coimadai in Bacchus Marsh, they said that they had found it years before in Sunshine and it ended back in Melton, where Terry now lives.
“I listed it for sale on Facebook and amazingly his [Terry’s] sister, who lives in Sunbury, saw the ad and the inscription in the photos and rang her brother.
“I got a phone call from this gentleman explaining that it was his book as a child.
“What are the chances of this happening?”
Ms Downie returned the book to Mr Brooks last week.
“It was brilliant to see the look on his face when I was able to hand him his book, that bought back so many memories of his childhood.”
Mr Brooks said that he would keep the book to pass on to his three grandsons some day.
“Just the nostalgia of it all is quite extraordinary,” he said.
