ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — An unreturned library book has turned into a treasured memento for Cameron -- a young Attleboro boy who lost his grandfather to Covid-19 in February.
Cameron's father Elijah Birch found the book about baseball that his father Dennis took out while he was a student at the Peter Thatcher School in 1970.
Elijah and his sister Kayla said they are not surprised their father never returned the book because he was always known for being late to everything.
"[We made him a shirt that said] 'always late, worth the wait,'" Kayla said. "We just came to expect it and it became a joke."
Cameron now attends the same school his grandfather did and surprised his teacher when his father suggested he try to return the book to the library 51 years later.
"She just laughed and put her hand of her forehead," Cameron said. "She told me I can keep it."
Cameron said he will cherish the overdue book for the rest of his life as a tribute to his grandfather.
Dennis Birch is one of the over 17,000 Massachusetts residents who have been lost to the virus since the Covid-19 pandemic began in the spring of 2020.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports:
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(Photo: Kim Tunnicliffe/WBZ NewsRadio)