



I absolutely adore this story I just read in the newsletter of a local Seattle salvage company, Second Use. When the salvage team removed a lintel, they found a note dated 1973 and addressed to “Future Man” from Jack Barbour, the man who originally worked on the space. The website doesn’t share the whole story, which is that Jack was a first-generation American from Belgium who passed away 20 years ago. Before moving west, my husband and I did a major home remodel, and we did in fact leave notes (in our case, written on the boards that were later covered by drywall) detailing how we literally put sweat, tears and blood into the project — a board fell on my husband’s head mid-construction that required stitches! I love the idea that in 20 years’ time, someone might uncover our hello. If you renovate, do you leave notes for your own “Future Man”? — Mary T.