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1984 Vindicator page glues women’s bond
By Elise Franco
Austintown
Brenda Coonce and Nora Black, perfect strangers before meeting a year ago, had no idea one newspaper clipping tied them together 25 years before.
Coonce, who works for Community Caregivers in Canfield, said she was paired with 91-year-old Black last year, and the women immediately formed a bond. But Coonce said it wasn’t until March that she realized she and Black were truly meant to be in each other’s lives.
“I was moving stuff out of one of her drawers and doing laundry, and I looked down and there it was,” Coonce said.
What she found was a Vindicator from 1984 lining the bottom of Black’s drawer, and in that newspaper was Coonce’s own wedding announcement.
“I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I looked down and saw my name, and then I saw my picture ... I was like ‘Oh, my God. That’s me.’”
Black, who has dementia, said she didn’t remember specific details of that day, but said that she hugged Coonce and told her she could keep the newspaper clipping.
“I haven’t changed the paper in my drawer for 26 years,” she told Coonce on that day.
Coonce said she thinks finding her wedding announcement was more than just a coincidence.
“Nora told me, ‘You were meant to take care of me,’” she said. “I really think I was meant to be here.”
Black joked, “I’m glad you found that. I’ve got to clean out that drawer anyway.”
Coonce said the women have since felt more connected.
“I feel closer to her now,” she said. “Who would’ve thought we’d have that connection?”
Barb Scott, owner of Community Caregivers, said she couldn’t believe it when Coonce told her what had happened.
“It was gratifying for me because we try to match the right people together,” Scott said. “That was proof that we did a good job.”
Black’s son Daniel Black, of Poland, said lining her drawers with newspaper is something his mother has always done.
“It’s just a very quirky coincidence that she used a paper that day of someone who would end up being her caretaker,” he said.