A Nanaimo man knows what it means for family mementos to be lost and found.

So he鈥檚 determined to do whatever he can to return 10 photo albums to a family he doesn鈥檛 know.

Suiker had while moving back to British Columbia from the Prairies in 2015. While the truck was recovered and Abbotsford Police solved the case, Suiker didn鈥檛 get back everything that was taken.

鈥淏its of history and little trinkets and items that were passed on from my grandparents,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here were a lot of those things that as far as value goes in the marketplace, are worth next to nothing, but they鈥檙e priceless when you actually consider what they mean to yourself.鈥�

A couple of years later, a stranger came across more of Suiker鈥檚 family鈥檚 belongings which had been separately mislaid 鈥� photos and letters and documents 鈥� and ensured the family got them back. Thanks to that kindness, Suiker was able to hold the ship ticket that his grandmother and aunt had used for passage from the Netherlands to Canada in 1928.

鈥淪omebody made the effort and reached out to somebody in my family to help us retrieve these items and that鈥檚 in part why it鈥檚 so important that these photos and documents that I recovered get back to the family鈥︹�� he said. 鈥淚 may not necessarily know what item or picture or document in particular will have that effect on somebody else because it means something different to everybody.鈥�

Suiker spied the 10 photo albums at an estate sale in Nanaimo in 2018. He was fascinated at the old pictures taken in Latvia at least as far back as the 1930s, and when advised the albums were to be thrown away, he didn鈥檛 think twice.

鈥淚 said, 鈥榯hese are somebody鈥檚 and they mean something to somebody. I can鈥檛 let them go to the landfill,鈥欌�� Suiker said.

The albums seem to have belonged to Juris Bergins, who died in 2018, and therefore to his daughters Kristine Bergins and Monika Young, but Suiker hasn鈥檛 had success locating family members. He鈥檚 made inquiries at a funeral home, followed other leads that fizzled, and even contacted a newspaper in Latvia. Every few months he looks at the albums, he said, and 鈥淸looks] into it a little bit more, and unfortunately every avenue that I took led to a dead end.鈥�

More than once he鈥檚 considered throwing the albums away, but 鈥渕orally鈥� can鈥檛 bring himself to discard something he says is irreplaceable.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a story, there鈥檚 a history, there鈥檚 culture,鈥� Suiker said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much that when you look over it, at times it has almost brought me to tears when I鈥檓 looking through it because this is somebody鈥檚 life in picture form.鈥�

Suiker can be contacted at bms@sasktel.net.

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