We all know shopping at secondhand stores, consignments and antique shops can produce interesting finds. Some items are just interesting to look at or take a picture of at the shop.
Others turn out to be more interesting after we've taken them home and begin to explore their drawers and pockets.
But Valencia Walker from San Diego, California made a discovery with her latest secondhand purchase that hit a little too close to home.
Walker is a frequent shopper at her local Goodwill, where she regularly finds unique and vintage finds she refabricates for her home.
Recently, she discovered a pair of older nightstands in excellent condition, and bonus, only cost $12.
While exploring the top drawers and lower cabinets, Walker made a discovery that took her straight back to her childhood.
Walker later shared her strange discovery on her @ValenciaVibing TikTok account.
She simply captioned the video:
"The Universe is crazy."
You can watch the video here:
@valenciavibing The universe is crazy #foryou #fyp #thrifted #storytime #crazy
In the video, Walker explained:
"The strangest thing just happened, and I swear I'm not making this up."
"I literally don't care how many people comment and say, 'Oh my god, this was staged.'"
Walker then flipped the camera around to show the nightstand she had purchased with the top drawer pulled open.
"I just got these nightstands at Goodwill today. Honestly, my heart is still a little fluttery, a little trembly, because this is, like, really cool."
"I bought these nightstands at Goodwill for $12.99 each."
"So I go through the drawers and empty stuff out like normal, and I found this crumpled up piece of paper, this little dirty piece of paper."
"It legit says, 'Carly's home number' and 'Carly's mom's cell phone number.' It has my mom's cell phone number and my family's home phone number from, like, 15 years ago. Like, what?"
"My younger sister's name is Carly, and that is our home phone number. We have not had a home phone in probably 10 to 15 years."
"But what are the chances of that? Like for real? I go thrifting, and I wind up owning nightstands previously owned by one of my little sister's friends?"
At the very end of the video, Walter pulled the top drawers out to see if there was anything else. There were small stacks of paperwork hidden under one of the drawers as the video ended.
Some TikTokers were blown away by the coincidence.
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
A few shared their own strange coincidence stories.
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
Others weren't quite so convinced, since Walker was thrifting in the town where she grew up.
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
In a follow-up comment, Walker stated she would investigate further.
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
Two follow-up videos in which Walker explored the contents of the drawers and searched for her sister Carly's old friend have since been taken down.
Walker concealed most of the personal information in the videos, but her viewers attempted to discern people's identities and locations.
To protect them, Walker took those videos down.
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
Walker did share a "final update" video, in which she was able to contact her sister's childhood friend.
@valenciavibing Final update of my crazy thrift #greenscreen #update #foryou #fyp #storytime #thrifted #insane
In the video, Walker explained:
"I went through all the papers again, and I found this piece of paper that looked like an advertisement, but it was actually an Rx (prescription) informational thing, and it had a last name on it."
"So I combined that with the first name, 'Sarah,' that I found on another piece of paper, and I found her on Facebook."
"I originally just sent her a message letting her know what I had found, and she responded with, 'Oh my bod, that's crazy!'"
"So, not that crazy of an ending."
"Some of y'all are wild. A lot of you were like, 'You know, it's not that uncommon if you thrift in the same city you grew up in.' But San Diego County has a population of 3.3 million. So I'd say that's pretty slim chances."
"And it wasn't the fact that I found a piece of furniture that someone I know previously owned. That part's not crazy. It's the part where I opened a drawer and saw my childhood phone number."
"I don't know, the universe is weird!"
Some were really miffed by the old friend's lack of response.
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
@ValenciaVibing/TikTok
Some were really impressed the nightstands managed to return to someone who was indirectly connected to them. Whether or not the universe had anything to do with it, Walker has a cool story she can share whenever someone points out her cool nightstands.
@chandlerparry/Threads
