North Attleborough woman reunited with late husband's lost license

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (WJAR) — It was your average summer day, Joe and Dawn Lacerda said, when they saw something strange at the bottom of Chestnut Pond in Epsom, New Hampshire.

"I said, 'Oh my gosh, it's someone's license,'" Dawn said.

Their son dove to the bottom and retrieved what turned out to be a 1977 motorcycle license belonging to Robert Norton.

Joe did some research and sent a Facebook message to Janet Norton-Anderson and her son.

"I was like, 'What the heck is going on?'" Norton-Anderson laughed.

She couldn't believe it: a long-haired 18-year-old pictured long before they fell in love. The surprise discovery made for a good laugh, but it was also a way to heal.

Bob Norton died of colon cancer in 2010. He was 50 years old.

"It happened so quickly. It was just 25 months from the day he was diagnosed," Norton-Anderson said. "We spent as much quality time as we could. He worked to the very last week."

Norton was an adoring father of two, a die-hard Patriots fan and a lover of all things outdoors. Norton-Anderson said the family would spend summers on Sebago Lake in Maine.

Norton-Anderson believes the Lacerdas' discovery was a sign from her late husband that, just like the license, he will always be part of them.

"Days go on. it's just different. That's what I say. It's never the same. It's just different," she said. "It's not like you'll ever forget him. In the back of your mind and in your heart he will always be there."

It's said a picture is worth a thousand words -- but this one just might be worth a million.