A really sweet story is circulating the web about laundry. Grab a tissue.

Last May “justgrant2009” got married. This week he shared his story on Reddit.com about the best gift that he ever received.

At his wedding rehearsal dinner, his mom and dad stood up to deliver a thank you speech. His mother had a big gift bag at her side. She then proceeded to tell gathered guests that while he was growing up — and occasionally through college— she had collected items from Grant’s laundry.

Grant knew growing up that his mother had strict rules about cleaning out his pockets before leaving them to be laundered. Anything she found was kept for good in a glass jar high atop a shelf in the laundry room. The glass jar was forbidden.

When Grant heard his mother’s speech he realized that he was finally getting back all those little treasures from years past. His eyes swelled. As he reached into the bag, he was surprised to find that the famous glass jar of lost items had been turned into a table lamp for a wedding gift.

Here are some of the items from Grant’s laundry room “lost and found” glass jar lamp:

“It started off with mostly sticks, rocks, and marbles. But over time it ended up having all sorts of items ranging from Pogs, a Gameboy game (Super Mario Land), a Magic School Bus McDonald’s toy, yo-yos, and Laser Quest scorecards. There are also plenty of sticks, springs, rubber-bands, and twist-ties because I went through a phase where I remember telling my parents I was going to build a robot with just those items. I will admit that there are a few items in there from my early 20s too, as like any lazy college student, I let my mom wash my clothes while staying at home from college between semesters. And clearly, my mom was still collecting my things.”

It seems that Grant’s mom still has partly maintained her laundry rule of not returning items left in laundry pockets. In a bemused tone Grant mentions that his mother has sealed the contents within the lamp!

What an incredible gift from mother to son at a remarkable milestone in his life. Our laundry is proof of our adventures in this world….dirt and all.

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