SPRINGVILLE, Utah — Something special discovered in the walls of a Springville home led to a touching homecoming that was 80 years in the making.
It’s a surreal experience for anyone who returns to their childhood home, but it’s a real gift for 100-year-old Dorothy Switzer who last set foot inside back in the 1940s.
"Ah! This is all — okay. Totally different," said Switzer.
The Springville home on Main Street is being transformed into a cafe and the Jolly Circle Bike Shop, both scheduled to open May 1.
"I can’t imagine what mom and dad would think about having bicycles, a rack of bicycles in their bedroom," remarked Dorothy.
Switzer's father remodeled the home in the thirties.
"You could look the length of the front door and see the door to the bathroom. Mother didn’t like that arrangement," she explained.
Steven Park is the man now changing things around at the house and soon-to-be business. During his renovations, a note that was originally in the walls was found in the rubble.
"It just reminded me when I was a kid and my dad would build things. I remember marking on 2x4s while he’s building and thinking ‘Oh, what if someone sees this in the future?'" said Park.
It turned out the note was from Dorothy’s older brother, Bob.
"He got me out of trouble time and again," Dorothy shared.
Switzer's brother, Sgt. Robert Barron, died in Italy while fighting in World War II.
"He was leading a group of men up the side of the mountain to clear out a machine gun nest," Dorothy explained.
The note is like hearing from Bob all over again.
The note shared Bob's name, along with "Moved in house when nine months old. In fall of 1922. Placed note here September 6, 1932."
Over nine decades later, looking at the handwriting while showing the home to her grandchildren and flipping through photobooks with her daughter, makes it feel as though no time has passed for Dorothy.
"Brings back a lot of memories."
