WASHINGTON — For three years, Sam Dib and his wife have shared their house with at least two other families. The three-story row house sits on a tree-lined street in Northeast, on Staples Street.
But when Dib decided to take on a basement renovation, he uncovered a treasure trove of memories.
"We asked our contractor to knock out the ceiling that was there to make it a little bit bigger," Dib said.
Hidden in that ceiling were photos detailing fabulous '70s fashion, paychecks totaling less than $30 and secret love notes.
“There’s some older pictures from the '50s, in like an envelope; and I think that they may be the parents, but I'm not sure," Dib said.
To understand this story, forget everything you know about modern-day Washington, D.C. The images take us to a time when a Pepco paycheck was $39.43.
“There's a paycheck and ... some money thing that's super old," Dib said. I can't get a date in there."
A decade later, there was another paycheck, which came with a pay cut, from Hamilton National Bank for $28.78.
Love notes from a hopeless romantic read, "To my man and husband, Payton, with all of my heart, forever and a day. One trillion kisses and hugs, Your wife, Cathy."
"The even nicer part of this, in my opinion, is not just the pictures, but the cards," Dib said. "It’s seeing the handwriting from, you know, your mom or your grandmother and having like a sweet note saying, 'To my loving husband.'"
In the search to find the people in these pictures, Dib and his neighbors found an old listing for the house.
"So, it used to actually be two families living in a house," Dib said. "Two families living here, and they would share the same entrance, I presume, so, it's kind of neat to see how things have changed."
These frozen moments in time tell a love story, one Dib and his family hope to hear in person if he ever gets to meet them face-to-face.
"It'd be nice to not only see that, but be able to kind of talk to them and kind of understand what it was like to live in this area of Trinidad back then," he said.
Other trinkets were also found in the home, including picture negatives and old bottles of whiskey.
If you recognize the people in these pictures, send us an email at newstips@wusa9.com.
