(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Coming up, Matt and the team feel the need for speed.

- Just a few things.

- Just a few things?

- [Narrator] As they help a former Navy jet pilot and his wife downsize their home.

- Looking around this house, there's just so much stuff.

I'm overwhelmed.

- [Narrator] There's plenty of work to be done before this couple can take off.

- The clock's ticking.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- And this is a lot to empty out.

- I'm Matt Paxton.

Let's do it, man.

- Yep.

- My team of specialists, Jamie, Mike, and Avi help me help people downsize their homes and settle estates.

As the largest population of baby boomers in American history transition towards retirement, they and their families face the overwhelming task of emptying their homes to move.

We help them sift through a lifetime of possessions.

- Bingo.

- Heirlooms, and collectibles.

And we have literally down a piece of history.

To help them find the missing family treasures that mean the most to them.

- Oh my goodness.

- Jackie Robinson.

And along the way, they'll discover that the most important museum in the world may be in their family's basement.

- Oh.

- I've never seen that.

That is cool looking.

- From attics to sellers, closets to cupboards, we uncover the memories they want to preserve.

This is living history, this is what we're here to find.

- Let's go.

- And discover the compelling, personal, and often historical stories spanning generations that are their family's legacy.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Funding for "Legacy List" is provided by Bekins Van Lines.

At Bekins, our goal is to provide a smooth and simple moving experience, no matter the size or distance of your move, Bekins is ready to help you get there.

You can find us at bekins.com.

Bekins, this is moving.

First Light Home Care.

Committed to providing safe and compassionate home services for you and your family.

First Light believes personal relationships and engagement are as important as mobility, bathing, and personal hygiene.

Details at FirstLightHomeCare.com.

(upbeat music) - Today we're in the beautiful Virginia wine country, right on the border of West Virginia.

I'm here to meet my friends, Cheryl and Stephen Caldwell.

They've lived in this home for 28 years.

They've got a house full of memories that need our help clean it out so they can put the home on the market.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (door knocking) (dog barking) - Come on.

(dog barking) - Hi.

- Cheryl, good to see you.

- Good to meet you, Matt.

- Very good to meet you.

- Come on in.

Come on in.

- Thank you.

- This is my husband, Stephen.

- Stephen.

- Good to meet you, man.

Hello, and who is this?

- This is Madison.

- This is our dog, Madison.

- There you go.

- There you go.

- Madison, from JMU.

Beautiful drive up.

- Thank you.

- Oh my gosh.

- I'm glad you enjoyed it.

- Wine, country, horses, deer running across.

That was awesome, all right.

You guys called me, what's the situation?

- We've lived here for 28 years.

- Okay.

- I've retired.

He's getting ready to retire.

It's time for us to downsize.

- Okay.

- And looking around this house, there's just so much stuff where- I'm overwhelmed.

- There's a lot of things that I collect.

That I don't need, that are just emotional items.

And some of them are not gonna be able to go.

- Okay.

All right.

- Yeah.

- You're pilot now, still.

- Pilot with American Airlines now, yes.

- So, what was your call sign?

- Mud Bone.

- Mud Bone.

- [Stephen] With Richard Prior, politically incorrect.

- [Matt] There we go, all right.

- Absolutely.

- I'm guessing speed is important here?

- Yes.

And the market is so quick right now that we're worried that if we're not ready.

- As soon as we find something, this needs to go.

- Right.

- We can find something for tomorrow, or it could be six months.

- And this will go fast.

- I think so.

- I think so.

- Yeah, all right.

Well, let's go see some rest of the house, so I can kind of see what I'm getting into.

- Come this way.

- All right.

I'm gonna follow y'all.

(upbeat music) - Come on in here.

- All right.

So the dining room.

- So we have some furniture that has been in family for several generations.

We really don't know exactly how old it is.

- Cheryl remembers better than me, but she thinks, and I think she might be right.

It's my great-grandmother's- - Right.

- So it was my grandmother's mother's before her.

- These pieces are amazing, both of these.

And I've got someone that I can bring in to tell us.

- Awesome.

- Excellent.

- All right, so this is pretty clean.

I don't think you called me for this room.

- No.

- Where's the volume?

- Basement.

- Basement.

- And the carriage house.

- Okay.

All right.

Let's go check out the basement first, and then we'll go outside.

(upbeat music) (footsteps thumping) All right.

Holy cow.

- And a couple of airplanes.

- All right.

- Yeah, just a few things.

- Just a few things?

When I first saw the basement, I was thinking like, "Oh my gosh, this is a lot to do here.

You guys better call somebody."

And then I realized they had, they had called us.

All right, what am I looking at.

- Yeah, you've got things from the old things that I flew in the Navy to things that have huge air launch and control surfaces, so they fly and do extraordinary things in the air.

Things that you couldn't actually do in a real person, 'cause there too much forces on your body.

- Stephen stays busy, and this house is filled with all the stuff for his hobbies.

- There's a lot here, that's kind of the problem.

(laughs) - Yeah, we're not even gonna discuss the downsizing challenge of this.

- Yes.

- I'm just taking it in.

Holy cow.

- No, it's something he enjoys and it's affected our children.

Our oldest son is a pilot, our second son is an engineer.

And.

- Well, let's pause on that.

Your dad, he was military.

- Yeah.

- Then you are, or you were.

- Yes.

Yes.

- And now your son is.

- Yes.

- How does that make you feel?

- Three generations?

- Oh, that made me feel great, man.

He was in the exact same squadrons.

- Right.

- Going through training, yes.

He has followed my footsteps.

Ad then I stopped as lieutenant, he's now a lieutenant commander and he is going over for his joint forces, so I'm very proud.

- [Matt] This is not cluttered, this is really all collection.

- Right.

- Where's the rest of the stuff?

- Probably the carriage house.

- Carriage house.

- [Matt] Okay, all right, well, we saved the best for last.

- Okay.

- Lets go check out the carriage house.

- For last.

(upbeat music) - [Matt] It's gonna be a hard property to leave, man?

- It is, there's- - It really is.

- [Matt] Oh my gosh, look at these dirt bikes.

- Okay.

- All right.

What is this?

- We call it the carriage house.

This is the shed off the carriage house.

Carriage house, 'cause the way I built the doors.

It reminded me of what carriage houses looked like.

I mean, that's why we call it carriage house, it's a garage.

But it's a three car garage with an upstairs.

- Okay, I mean, I'm laughing.

You have an old carriage that you obviously- - In the carriage house.

- You know.

- [Cheryl] This is the carriage, exactly.

- If I go upstairs, what am I gonna find?

- [Cheryl] We have a lot of things that we've packed away that I'm not even sure what's up there anymore.

- Okay.

- A lot of family stuff, probably, I know there's furniture and just boxes that we've moved from the basement.

- That's been up there years.

- Absolutely.

- Were there, what they are.

- Yeah.

- When I saw the carriage house, I realized how important it was for us to be there.

There was just so much stuff on all three levels of this barn.

This is my favorite part.

So let's go inside and I'll hear all about your legacy list.

Okay.

Perfect.

- Okay.

- All right.

let's go.

I'm gonna follow you upstairs.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) - What makes you guys want to downsize?

- It just feels like the right time to me.

It just feels like it's time to move on and have a little smaller space, but at the same time, still enjoy the things that we enjoy.

- Okay.

- My plans did not include living on four acres for the last 28 years.

It's been great for the kids, it's been great for us.

- Yeah.

- I dig it.

I mean, retirement is what it is to each of us.

- Yes.

- Right.

Very true.

- [Matt] And I guess as long as you're together, who really cares where you are.

- That's right.

- All right.

So this part, we go over the legacy list.

- Okay.

- And as a reminder, a legacy list is a list of five or six items that either you need us to help you find.

- Okay.

- Or get more information for you.

- Right.

- And that list helps to find your family legacy, or your family's story.

- Right.

- All right, let's get into this legacy list.

- Okay, old letters and documents.

So, and this is mostly from his family.

His aunts had no children, and so when they passed away, all of their paperwork, all of their birth certificates, and letters that were written during World War II to loved ones, they had stuck in this suitcase.

There's a packet of old pictures.

- Okay.

- Once again, could be in that suitcase.

And I think they're mostly things from my mom.

My mom was raised in a orphanage during the depression.

- She was?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- So I'm hoping those are with those letters and documents.

I'm thinking that's where those are.

- What's the next item on there?

- I flew in the Navy and I flew A-7s off the carriers.

On the carrier, there's a little thing that looks like a little bitty barbell for an A-7.

It fits underneath the front of the airplane and it holds the airplane back when it's at full power from going off the front.

And then the other part of it goes to the ship.

So when I'm at full power, it's holding me back.

And when the ship pushes the launch button, it breaks and then you take off.

It's just a little thing called a holdback.

And they break and they're thrown overboard, they're disposable, well, I have a hole one somewhere, but I don't know where that is.

- All right.

I'm ignorant to- - To what it looks like?

- I saw "Top Gun," the first one.

I haven't even seen the second one yet.

All right, so I'm ignorant to this.

But there is a small piece of metal?

- Yes.

- That holds that entire jet?

- That's why it's called a holdback.

Yeah, you're sitting there at full throttle and they're saying, "Run it up."

And then the guy launches you and pushes the button.

And then that's when the catshot starts and it breaks that.

And off you go.

- Holy cow.

So what else are we got?

I love this.

- Our furniture that we have in our dining room, we have a side board.

In this room we have- - Sweetheart table.

- A sweetheart table behind us here.

And I'd just like to learn more about the age of it.

I don't know enough about that - Okay, so wanna know age.

- That would be great.

- All right, what else do we got?

We got three items so far.

- Well, when, when I was growing up, like I said, I told you about the little doggie.

My dad had porcelain dog where we put his rings and his tie tag, I've got that.

But there was another thing that he had on his uniform that was always attached to his pistol.

And it's a little lanyard.

- Is it rubber, is it cloth?

- No, it's leather.

- It's leather, it's a leather strap.

- Braided leather.

- Yeah.

- And it was something that belonged to dad that I know I have, and- - So tell me about your dad, a little more about him.

- Oh, well Dad, Dad was in the Navy.

And like many men then, I don't know much about what he did because they don't- - They don't talk about.

- talk about it.

- He served in all three theaters.

He served in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Mediterranean.

He was there at the Normandy.

State Trooper when he got back from the war.

And he rose the rank of captain before he retired.

Integrity, that- - Yes.

Absolutely.

- He gave his nephew a ticket one time.

His nephew came out and says, "Charlie, just don't tell him you're my nephew or my uncle."

He says, "Just get back in the car, Johnny.

It will be okay, wrote him a ticket, anyway.

- He would write- - He wrote family a ticket.

- Absolutely, in a minute.

- I love it.

- I love it.

That's awesome.

What's the next item on there?

- Made made me cry, but my dad had so many things from the railroad and had an amazing career.

And those are things that I want to keep for my kids, and to pass on.

- Now hold up.

Tell me about your dad, it's okay.

- He was the youngest of 12.

His initial job was to take down the telegraph keys.

And I know I've got a couple pieces of telegraph keys, but I know there's some more of that, and some old railroad locks that he took off of the signal department and had to replace with newer ones, which are probably broke within the first month.

And these have been there for 50 years probably.

- It's really a joy to sit down with the family when you hear such a positive and joyous legacy list.

All right, well good news is my team is the right team to help with this.

- Yeah, they are.

- Excellent.

- I love it.

- Thank you.

Awesome.

- Thank you guys.

We'll get started, I'll see you soon.

- Thank you.

Appreciate it.

(upbeat music) - [Jaime] Can you imagine like having to mow all this though?

- Oh no, it'll take me all week to mow it.

- I don't even wanna think about it.

- What's up guys?

- Hey, how are you?

- How you're doing?

- We're good.

- What do you think?

- Oh man.

- Pretty awesome.

- It's awesome.

- Virginia wine country.

- It's beautiful.

- Cheryl and Stephen, they lived here 28 years.

I sent you a bunch of pictures and I sent you the legacy list ahead of time.

House, just full of memories.

I mean, this guy is a collector.

I wish Stephen was my grandpa.

Like this would be the coolest place to hang out.

But the house is full and they need to sell it.

And they need to sell it like quickly.

- Do they know where they're going?

- They have not chosen the house.

And I think the concern is as soon as they put this house on the market, it's gonna move.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I mean, given the area where we are, we're close to DC.

- Yeah.

- I mean, you get a lot more for your money out here than you do closer to town.

And I can see why this would sell super fast in this market.

Stephen and Cheryl have a great property for resale.

They're in a great location, they're close to a major city, yet they have so much space to spread out on.

So it sounds like they're ready to sell, but are they ready to downsize?

- In theory, yes.

- Yeah.

- I mean.

- Like most people?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- They're saying all the right things.

- Yeah.

- But man, they got a lot of cool things here, not a lot of trash in the house.

- Yeah.

- This family is all about faith, and service, and family.

- I saw a huge military background.

- Huge military background.

- And there's one particular piece I am dying to find.

- Which one is that?

- The holdback.

- Yeah.

It's crazy.

- That's crazy that that little piece literally holds back a plane.

- A massive jet, an airplane can be held back by a little piece of metal.

And he's got it somewhere in his house.

- Well, my guys are on the way.

- Okay.

- And I'll need to carve out a little time to meet with the family, just to make sure we're clear on what the plan is.

- Okay.

- I'm sure there's some great charities or donation centers in town.

We'll do our best to find a new home for these items and keep them out of the landfill.

- Okay, you guys ready to get started?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- All right, so you guys are gonna go in the basement?

- Yep.

- You and I are going to the carriage house.

- All right.

- We'll see you guys in a little bit.

- Thanks, Matt.

- See you guys.

- See ya.

(upbeat music) - Jaime.

- Oh my gosh.

- He said a collection.

- Look at all this on the wall over here.

We've never even seen remote controlled helicopters.

- Matt said a collection, not a museum.

This is unbelievable.

We often say that every house is a museum.

I think Stephen took it literally.

We were walking into that basement.

You saw planes from the front to the back, from the top to the bottom, it was amazing.

- This is also a little overwhelming, because the clock's ticking.

- Oh yeah.

- And this is a lot to empty out.

These are his hobbies.

He's not necessarily downsizing on what he likes to do in his spare time.

- Right.

He's got a lot of decisions to make.

- Yeah, he does.

- But we've got a lot of work to do.

- Yes.

(upbeat music) - Here we go.

- Another day, another barn.

- Yep.

- All right, so the family told me a couple things.

- Okay.

- They said this is where all the leftover stuff got put.

So the stuff they care about, they know about is in the basement.

And apparently a lot of wasps up here.

- Okay.

- Well this is a full can.

Here's a almost empty can.

You have that.

- Okay.

- I mean, this is the top of a barn.

It's where you put the stuff you least need, 'cause you're not going back up there again.

And that's often a really rich environment to pick for items.

We are looking for a lot of legacy list items.

- Hopefully the photos aren't up here.

'Cause this is not the place to store those.

- I know, but with a lot of family, stuff just gets shoved up here one day, 'cause they're gonna get to it tomorrow.

- Oh yeah.

- And then tomorrow's 20 years later, all right.

You pick over here.

- Okay, - I'm gonna pick over here and let me know if you find anything.

- Okay.

- All right.

(upbeat music) - There's like a box of taxidermy, like hooves over here.

- What is it?

Oh.

- He likes to hunt and shoot.

So makes sense.

- Check out these tools, Mike.

I'm wondering if this was her dad's.

- Okay.

- He would basically convert all the power lines.

So these are not for that, but some of these tools are.

- Yeah.

- Look this little.

- Yeah.

(metal clanking) - Look at that.

- These have got some age.

- Now we're getting into the real stuff.

- Oh, there we go.

- Dinner time.

(metal clanking) - Got some airplane wings over here.

- [Avi] Yeah, he's got a lot of parts over here.

- The basement was a place that we could have gotten easily distracted.

There was a lot to look at and take in.

(upbeat music) - Let's see.

(boxes creaking) Yeah, yeah, I think I'm onto something here.

Jaime, I found a couple patches.

- Yeah?

- That say Mud Bone.

- Ah, that was his naval call sign.

- Yes it was.

Yes it was.

- That's awesome.

- And it looks like there are a few more naval items.

We might wanna go through this box.

- Okay.

- Let's check this out.

- Yeah.

Oh, what'd you got?

- Looks like pictures, documents.

- Oh wow.

- Check that out.

Naval plane leaving the carrier.

- I really still can't even wrap my brain around the fact that planes land on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

- I know.

- What is this?

Is this like his flight logs?

Oh, very cool.

Look how dapper they all look.

- They are.

- In their whites.

- They are.

- I mean, this photo is something that they would definitely want to see.

- Absolutely.

- This is special.

(upbeat music) (boxes rustling) - You find anything?

- Empty box.

- I'm just getting a lot of empty boxes.

- Yeah.

- Looks good.

- Christmas stuff.

- Oh.

- [Matt] A huge old stereo.

- Oh, hey, Matt.

- Yeah, what you got over there?

- I think I found the telegraph key.

- Let me see.

Holy cow, man.

Dude, look at that.

So her dad was basically like communications.

So it started off telegraph and then he converted it to telephone.

- Telephone.

- All right, good find, dude.

- Hey, thanks man.

You take it for granted when you reach into your phone and you've got something more powerful than the first space shuttle.

- Yeah.

- But I mean, this.

- Yeah.

- This was groundbreaking.

- I wanna learn more about this, this is really, really interesting.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] The telegraph key.

An electrical switch used by an operator to send and receive messages in Morse code.

(code clinking) Two types of pulses can be sent.

A short one, called the dot, and a longer one, known as a dash.

Sounds primitive, but in its day the telegraph represented a transcendent moment in the history of telecommunications.

As people traveled farther distances, they wanted swifter forms of communication.

By the mid 19th century, it took about a month to send a message cross country by stage coach or steamship.

In 1860, the Pony Express employed horse mounted riders to cut the delivery time down to a mere 10 days.

But by the following year, that horsepower was no longer needed.

That's the year the first transcontinental telegraph was established.

Now a message could be sent instantly from New York to California.

(upbeat music) The man most responsible for pulling off this epic feat was a middle aged portrait painter by the name of Samuel Finley Breese Morse.

Tragedy inspired Morse's invention.

He was painting a portrait in Washington DC when he received a letter that his wife was ill. By the time he got home, she had already died.

Morse was heartbroken and pledged to invent a communications device that could allow important messages to be delivered quickly.

(telegraph device clinking) The first ever telegraph message was sent from Washington to Baltimore in 1844.

What did it say?

"What hath God wrought?"

Soon, thousands of miles of cable crisscrossed the country.

People didn't have to wait weeks to hear from far away relatives, companies were able to conduct business much faster , and presidents could communicate directly with their generals on the battlefield.

The golden age of the telegraph lasted well into the 20th century when a new marvel of communication came onto the scene, (phone ringing) the telephone.

- Alright, what else do we have?

- Lots of paperwork, exams.

- Jaime.

- What's that, what is that?

Is that the holdback?

- This is the holdback.

This- - That stopped the plane.

- Yes, can you imagine this small piece being so important?

- No, honestly, when we first found the holdback bar, I thought it was like a miniature dumbbell for a doll.

- Just to think that Stephen flew planes off of boats.

And this holdback bar is what separated a successful mission from a failure.

When you think about hundreds of takeoffs, this was the difference between a successful takeoff and the plane plunging into the ocean.

- Right, I mean, this is a very important piece.

- Yeah, one I'm glad we found.

- Yeah.

- I'm excited.

Like this is, man.

- Good job.

- This is amazing.

(bell ringing) - [Mike] Our favorite thing, a steamer trunk.

- [Matt] I love steamer trunks.

- What are you finding?

- Well, a bunch of old stereos, well, hold on a second.

I think I found something else, boom.

Yeah.

Oh.

Oh, I think I found something good, dude.

Look at this.

- All right.

Suitcase.

- Well, she mentioned there might be an old suitcase of photos.

- Okay.

- And this was buried.

Look at that.

- Whoa.

- They're in decent shape.

- Oh, there's some money in here.

- Is it?

- Two dollar bills.

- Two Dollar bills.

What are they worth?

- Two bucks.

- Two bucks.

- Great pictures.

Floyd Ray, that was her dad.

All right, well look at this picture, man.

This I believe is mister Caldwell senior.

- Oh wow.

- He was a state trooper.

They'll love this, 'cause this family was about service.

It's really- - It's a cool photo even.

- Man, this is why you pick an attic.

This is why you pick a barn.

This is so cool, I love it.

Where do we put the- - I'll make a pile over there.

- You make a pile over there, what a find.

I love it.

(upbeat music) - I'm sure he has a great time.

Or at least his kids and grandkids on this property with these remote control cars.

- I mean, yes.

I would have a great time as an adult.

- Yeah, I mean, I could see these things going everywhere.

- Literally this whole cabinet is like empty boxes and every single extension cord that's probably ever been used in this house.

- Yep, sounds like a man closet.

- Oh, except for this drawer.

What's in here?

(paper rustling) Oh man.

- What do you got?

- I think I found the drawer with all of the photographs that they were looking for.

You wanna come help me bring some over there?

- Yeah, yeah, definitely.

- It's a heavy box.

- I'm gonna give that one to you.

- Yeah, I'll take that.

- I mean, this is why you have to go through all the drawers.

- Working in a basement is all about surprises.

You never know what you're gonna find when you open the drawer or when you look in the corner.

Hmm.

- That's gotta be Stephen.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- I think so.

- I think you're right, I think you're right.

Think you're right, ooh.

- Oh, it's the railroad locks.

- [Avi] Oh man, this is like opening a treasure chest.

- This is so cool.

- C&O.

- Chesapeake & Ohio.

- Oh my.

- I mean, Cheryl's dad worked for the C&O Railroad.

And did so for decades.

- I was expecting some of rusty worn down locks.

I mean, these locks were in great condition.

- I loved finding the locks.

They were something significant to Cheryl's dad.

And he held onto them for a reason.

And if you think about locks, I mean, you know the famous bridge in Paris where lovers go and put a lock on the bridge with their initials in it.

There's places like that all over the world.

Locks really symbolize that connection, that bond, that unbreakable bond.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So far.

- This is a great way for her to connect that and find a way to feature these even.

- Yeah.

I think these locks are something that Cheryl could hold onto and actually put on display, and enjoy for years to come.

- She's gonna love this.

- Yeah, she is absolutely gonna love this.

- I send Lex a lot of pictures about furniture, and most of the time it's not really something very special.

But soon as Lex received the pictures on this house, he wanted to come and take a look in person.

Lex, good to see you, man.

- Good to see you, my friend.

- Thanks for coming, come on in, man.

- Thanks for having me.

- All right.

Got some cool stuff to show you.

- Okay.

- All right, Come on in.

Let me show you.

(upbeat music) Avid collecting family, they've got really cool stuff.

- Okay.

- All over the place.

But this is the family furniture.

- Okay.

- I don't really know what I'm looking at.

- So this is a late classical sideboard, 1825-ish.

And when you sent me the pictures, there are a couple things that are interesting about it.

Those feet belong there.

- They do?

- [Lex] And I've never seen that before.

- That is interesting.

- That's quirky.

And then you see these ionic capitals, which would've been from classical Roman and Greek architecture.

I've never seen them that large.

Usually you'll see a plaster here and a small one.

And then a small one.

- A small one.

- They are so large and overblown.

And I started looking at the difference between the carving on this and the campus leaves down there.

And then it ends up relating to a piece across the way, which we'll talk about in a second.

- Okay.

- I am surmising that somebody got ahold of this and this would've been just the drawer and they carved the front, 'cause the carving quality is a little bit more simple and cruder than that.

- Okay.

- And that happened.

A lot of times people would adjust furniture, and I think they may have had someone in the family.

- So you're saying that is.

- Strong possibilities of these were re-carved.

- Okay.

- So the faces and I have seen altered furniture, and we're gonna walk over to here and we end up with a piece that's 20 years, roughly later.

- Okay.

- A little bit less.

- So 1815?

- What do you notice right away between the surface of this veneered mahogany.

So it's flame.

- This looks totally different.

- It does, doesn't it?

- Yes.

- All right, well that's just a piece of walnut.

- Okay.

- And you see the lines.

They're very linear and not very well carved.

They're more folky, it's more- - So it looks like they'd put a new front on this.

- And that's not uncommon.

So the next period after this is Victorian, which has over the top flowers and carving, carving of flowers in the backs of furniture.

- So?

- They were trying to Victorianize it, a piece that was 20 years to late and out of style, they're now trying to bring it into the contemporary, and make it more stylish.

And it looks like it probably was someone in the family, 'cause it's not a professional carver.

- So they're putting rims on a cavalier?

- Yeah, exactly.

Exactly, to make it fit the time.

- That's really cool.

- Isn't that cool?

- Lex was able to show where someone else had hand carved, as if it was modified to look more modern and cooler.

But that modification took place over a hundred years ago.

These are cool, they're gonna love that information.

The one, they don't know anything about this table.

- Okay.

- They call it the sweetheart table.

- This piece interested me right away when you sent the image, because I had been in a house in North Carolina.

And the family had a signed piece by Thomas Day.

Now, Thomas Day was a freed African American working in the 1840s and 1850s in North Carolina, and was one of the most prolific and successful cabinet makers in North Carolina in the 1850s.

He made more furniture and sold more furniture than any other cabinet maker.

It's a pretty exciting find, if we can verify it.

To verify it.

- I'm really excited to let the family know this , 'cause I don't think they have a clue how important this piece of furniture is.

- [Jaime] And I'm gonna check this book case out.

- More parts, pieces.

- More wires.

- I mean, there's so many airplane pieces in here.

- Yeah.

- I don't even think he could find anything that was just sitting right in front of his face in plane sight.

I mean, this place is stocked.

- I know.

We're looking around, we're digging through things, and all of a sudden we come across a box that looks like it's gonna have some good stuff in it.

- All right, we've got a few more pictures here.

- Yeah.

- Think this is his dad.

- Okay, let me come over there.

- Oh yeah.

- Charles Caldwell.

- I love this photo.

- His high school diploma.

(upbeat music) Oh man, check this out.

- [Jaime] What is this?

- [Avi] I'm somewhat familiar with this, because my godbrother is in the Virginia State Police.

- Oh.

- I mean it's the lanyard that you wear with your uniform and it secures your weapon.

- Yeah.

- I mean, Stephen's dad, World War II veteran.

- Yeah.

- I mean, Virginia State Police when he returned home.

- I know.

- This life of service is absolutely a family tradition.

I mean, it was passed on to Stephen.

And now one of Stephen's own sons- - Yep.

- Is serving and fighting for the country and fighting for others.

And that's why this lanyard is so important.

- Yeah.

- It connects the next generation's family to the life of service that made it possible.

- Yeah.

And now their kids will tell their kids.

And they can actually let their children touch it.

- Yes, yeah.

- And not just hear the story.

- Stephen and Cheryl I think are gonna be happy with the work we've done right here.

- Absolutely.

I agree.

(upbeat music) - [Stephen] The carriage house, it's a lot of stuff in the carriage house.

- As it tends to happen.

One of the key factors in every one of these projects is the communication with the client.

So a lot of times that's identifying the items they want to keep, and identifying the items that they don't want to keep.

- There's quite a bit of things here that can just plain go to the trash dump.

- Okay.

Great.

Percentage wise, how much do you think needs to leave?

- 30% needs to go, absolutely go.

- Okay, this happens a lot where the client will say, "Oh, I just need to get rid of 25 or 30%."

He needs to be more like 75%.

One of the things that is really helpful for a lot of my clients is- - Right?

- Coming what we call ground rules.

Is there any category of item that you know of that you can say, "I don't need any of them."

- No.

- Okay.

- It's gonna be more difficult than that.

- Great.

- Yes.

- Until we start pulling it out, they have no idea what they've got.

Motorcycle?

- I'm gonna keep the motorcycle and I- - Are you sure - Gonna keep the Volkswagen, so you know.

Well I know it look good in your house, Mike, but no, I'm gonna keep that.

- Okay, there's one key item that I wanna ask you about.

- Okay.

- The clown painting.

- My wife won't let that stay in the house, but I like it so much I wouldn't let her throw it away either, so that stays.

- Stays.

Okay.

- I'm not afraid of clowns.

- Okay.

Had to ask.

(upbeat music) - I mean, you have such a lovely home.

- Oh, thank you.

- It truly is beautiful.

And it's great that you have all the space to accommodate all the grandkids now.

- Right, it is nice.

It's nice to have it.

- I can understand it's such a tall task to be emotionally ready to leave, but also physically ready to leave.

- Right, so you've seen my house.

- I have.

I have.

They've lived in that house for a really long time.

And I really don't think they can truly grasp the amount of work that it's gonna take to get them ready to move.

The whole idea behind pairing everything down is so that one, people can envision their stuff.

- Exactly.

- In the house, but also that they're not figuring out who owns this house.

- Right.

- [Jaime] They're not preoccupied with that.

- Right.

- So, some of your more eclectic items, I keep looking up, referencing these items on the wall, the mounts.

- Yes.

- They could deter potential buyers.

A bear skin hanging on the wall is maybe going to appeal to a few people, but certainly not the masses.

And speaking of eclectic things, I can't help but notice all the stuff that's on this desk in this room.

- Okay, I'm really embarrassed, but I'm gonna show it to you, because it's you, all right, come on in.

(upbeat music) This is all my husband's collection.

And so, quite often people would say to me when I was teaching that I had unique things, and basically I would say, "Well, my husband makes me unique because he's the world traveler and he would bring back things from everywhere."

And one trip in Alaska, he brought back quite a few things.

And one of them that I've used in my classes is a walrus scapula.

So we can talk about the size of the bone and how different animals have different shapes in their bones, and so we would often talk about a walrus.

And quite often, 'cause I taught preschool, we'd talk about the letter W for walrus.

- Okay.

- So that's how we pulled it in.

- Cheryl had a fantastic collection of nature items that she used to teach her kids.

- These are porcupine quills from an African porcupine.

- I love that she's held onto them.

And she truly still enjoys teaching people about them.

She taught me.

What is this?

What is that?

- So this came from Alaska.

This is actually the vertebrae of a whale bone.

- No way.

- So I just want you to hold it and feel the weight to that.

This is insane.

- There.

- It's one thing to see a picture in a book of a whale, but it's another thing to hold part of a vertebrae in your hand.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Blue whales are the largest creatures on earth.

They can weigh up to 400,000 pounds and grow to a length of almost 100 feet.

Their hearts are as big as a Volkswagen bug.

They are the biggest animals to ever exist.

Sorry, dinosaurs.

There are 13 species of great whales, including the humpback, which composes complicated songs to communicate with other whales.

The sperm whale, which has the largest brain of any animal on earth, and the gray whale, which migrates up to 12,000 miles a year, swimming from their home in Alaska to the warm waters of Baja California, and back again.

How do whales get so big?

They eat a lot.

Surprisingly, these gigantic creatures feed on one of the oceans tiniest, two inch krill.

The whale opens its mouth and expands its throat to take in an enormous amount of water.

Then the whale's tongue pushes and filters the water out through plates of bristles called baleen.

Thousands of krill remain trapped in the whale's mouth, ready to be swallowed.

A blue whale can consume four tons of krill a day.

Whales also play a role in fighting climate change.

They absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide into their bodies while alive.

When whales die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, storing the carbon with them.

A great whale can take around 33 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere for centuries.

Even in death, whales are amazing.

(upbeat music) - Think as a kid, the first time you had an experience with the plane, you just imagine yourself as a pilot.

So it was really cool to have an experience as a pilot, at least dressed like one.

You like my airport?

- I love it.

I love it.

I love it, I love everything about it.

And I'm excited to see what this thing can do.

But I gotta ask you a couple questions first, though.

Because you have had decades of flying behind you.

- Yes.

- What brought you to know this is what I'm gonna do for my life?

- It's desire, if you have the desire and there's another marine thing says, "If you don't mind, it don't matter."

If you got the desire, you could stick to it.

And you have a little handout coordination, you can do it.

It's pretty much what God says, "You can do anything you set your mind to."

You can either grow up or you can be a pilot.

So pilot's just big kids.

I tell everybody, when I serve my country, I flew 489, 200 feet off the ground and I got paid to do it.

So, you're welcome.

(laughs) - I'm ready for my lesson, let me prepare for take off.

- Oh, there you go.

All right, we're gonna make sure we're ready.

So the right, right aileron a kind of-, and the left aileron ought to go down.

That's correct, that's left.

And then we're gonna watch these go up, that's up, That's down.

This is right.

This is left.

Okay.

Everything's working like supposed to work.

I'm gonna turn the throttle on.

- All right, wait till I say launch and we'll be ready to go.

(model plane whining) Launch.

Woo!

- Now watch it turn.

Oh, and the wind's gonna take me away.

It's a little windy.

I wouldn't be out here flying, except for you, because it's a little windy for flying.

- Okay, well, what was the degree of difficulty in learning how to fly these versus an actual plane?

- Well, I'm not in these so if I crash, I'll have to pay a little extra money.

When you're in the airplane, right is right and left is left.

- Okay.

- Right now when I'm coming toward me, I've got to go to my left, it's right.

So I have to think backwards when it's coming toward me.

- Absolutely.

- Okay, here's a regular loop.

- Oh yeah, man.

- And here's a, I'll give it, if I can get it out there.

Here's a 3D loop, see how it just- - Oh, nice.

(model plane whining) Having the opportunity to stand beside someone who flew for 30 plus years, it was a lot of fun.

And you doing the heck of a job handling that wind.

- [Stephen] Well, the wind is, see, I'm not doing anything right now.

The wind's just throwing me around.

It's probably in another tree.

And that might be the end of our flying today.

- This experience was a great reminder of just how difficult it is to be a pilot.

- [Narrator] On any given day there are thousands of airline flights criss crossing the skies.

But human flight took a while to get off the ground.

(Airplanes buzzing) It all started with hot air.

The first untethered hot air balloon ride carrying humans was launched in 1783 before thousands of spectators in Paris.

After the successful flight, ballooning really blew up.

Around 1800, the idea of a fixed wing aircraft began to pick up steam.

(airplane whirring) All types of flying machines were launched, with mixed results.

In 1903, the Wright Brothers of Dayton, Ohio, designed, built, and flew the world's first powered airplane.

Their first controlled flights took place in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

They were able to travel a grand distance of 852 feet and stay in the air for almost a minute.

The brothers might not have realized it, but thanks to them, air travel was about to take off.

On January 1st, 1914, the world's first scheduled passenger airline service took off from St. Petersburg, Florida.

And landed at its destination in Tampa, Florida, about 17 miles away.

The flight carried a total of one passenger.

By the 1930s, you could fly from coast to coast, but it wasn't cheap.

(cash register clinking) The grueling 25 hour flight would make up to 15 stops and cost $264, which was about half the price of a new car.

The 1930s also saw the first flight attendants.

Introduced by the Boeing Company, these women did everything from serve sandwiches to check for oil leaks.

Nearly 3 million people fly in and out of this country every day and few give a second thought to the aviation pioneers that make it all possible.

(upbeat music) - There's a box behind him.

- When you're in a time crunch you really have to prioritize certain things over others.

In this case, the upstairs part of the the carriage house was number one.

Then it was the downstairs area where the cars were stored.

And after that, everything else was gravy.

(upbeat music) - I can't even believe all this stuff came out of this building, it's crazy.

That is ridiculous.

- I think we set Stephen and Cheryl up pretty well.

I think we've given them the steps and the keys to close out this move.

- This pushes us to get moving, it really does.

It's gonna be a big, big help.

I can't, I can't believe it.

- I think a big part of the downsizing process is accountability, and I think having us there leaves them with that accountability.

We may not be there every day with them until they're finished, but they know that we were there and we're gonna hold them accountable to the task that they have at hand.

- Wow, thank you all.

That's so cool.

Awesome.

(upbeat music) - All right, here we are, y'all.

It's been a long week.

- It has.

- But it's been an awesome week.

One of the things you asked us to do was help clear out upstairs carriage house.

- Yes.

- And then the main floor.

- Right.

- [Matt] How did it feel when you saw all that trash coming out?

- Oh, it was so nice.

Just having that taken care of makes me feel like things, we can do this.

- Okay, so the second half of what you asked us to do was to go through this legacy list.

- Right.

- Okay.

So let's get into it, let's just jump right into it.

I feel like I've seen a little bit of everything, but I have not seen this.

- Oh, oh.

- Oh, oh.

- This holdback bar.

- Oh, you found it.

- Tell me about that.

- Awesome.

- What it does is, it hooks into the nose of the A-7.

And it holds the A-7 back at full throttle, while it's on the catapult.

And then it actually breaks the holdback and lets you start going.

You go off on it and it falls off the airplane.

And then they go and take it off the ship and throw it over the side.

- You said it was a little barbell?

- Yes.

Little barbell.

- It is.

That's exactly what it is.

All right, it started us off.

Service, service is a theme I keep coming to in this family.

- Right.

- Service for you, as a teacher, service for you in the military.

Now, as a commercial pilot.

- We have much to be proud of.

- Very blessed.

- That's good.

- Yes.

- All right, and it all was created.

- Right here.

- Right here in this house?

- Yeah, In this house, 28 years.

- [Matt] The next item was the furniture.

- Right.

- Lex came, I really wanted to see the sideboard and Lex kept looking at it.

And it's a nice piece by the way.

- Good.

- Like 1825-ish.

- Oh.

- Oh, longer, older than I thought.

- Yeah, but here's what's different about it.

- Okay?

- Those drawers.

- Okay.

- [Matt] Are modified, those two top drawers that have the big- - That are carved.

- That are carved.

- Wow.

- Someone in your family would've had to carve those, 'cause they're definitely amateur carving.

- Wow.

- I have no idea who that could have been.

- Yeah.

- No.

- No.

Okay.

- And then we went across the room to that Chester drawers.

- Right.

- Also modified.

If you look at that middle drawer.

- Right.

- You can't tell if that was a whole new drawer put in.

- I was gonna say it's kind of wonky.

- It's a little wonky, it's definitely an amateur carving.

- Okay.

- But it was carved to make it look modern to the time.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- And a little more fancier.

- How about that?

- Trying to make the best of what they had.

Well then Lex saw the card table, it is a historical piece.

It's actually made by Thomas Day, early 1840s.

Thomas Day was the first African American cabinet maker in North Carolina.

- No way.

- So Lex has actually come across one of those before.

- Okay.

- And helped the family sell it, and it's a really special piece.

And he said this one is really well done.

I mean, he said it's definitely a little more progressive.

The heart is part of it's signature and then all the corners.

- Yeah.

- They're all his signature.

- I have no idea.

- Wow.

- [Matt] And that's a really special piece.

- That's amazing.

- It's really cool when you get to help fill in the gaps of a family story.

And they realize that maybe somewhere along the way they come from something special.

And what's really cool about this job is we can help people realize that.

All right, let's keep going.

And I have seen.

- Oh, my goodness.

- A lot of family pictures.

- You found it.

Let's get this open, 'cause this is really cool.

But man, what a way to show.

- Wow.

- Okay.

- Yeah, that thing came full of documents.

- This is where they were, we found them.

Oh my gosh, there are more in there.

- [Matt] A lot of cool things in here.

- Oh.

- First one.

- That's my mama Sue.

- His grandma.

- Yeah.

Elizabeth.

- Yes.

- Another picture we found.

- Okay.

That is my mother's home where she was raised.

She was taken, I'll probably cry.

She was taken from her family and put into a home for girls.

- Jacksonville Home.

- Because it was during the depression and her parents were poor and didn't have money for food, or didn't have money to support her.

And my mother was there from age three until she was 18, and graduated from high school.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- And that's where her dad courted her.

- And that's how my dad met her.

He was at a farm, but they went to school together.

- You got some $2 bills?

- I have a story about those.

- Well, let's hear it.

- So my dad got a job when he turned, I think 20.

And he worked for the railroad.

And my grandfather was so excited for him that he was working, and my grandmother was, that she gave him these $2 bills.

And he kept these in his wallet until the day he retired from the railroad for some 42 years.

- Oh my God.

I love that story.

- And then when he retire, I didn't tell you this, 'cause I didn't know where these were.

- This is the first time I've ever heard this story.

- Yeah.

I have a $2 bill when they first reissued the $2 bill that my grandfather gave me.

- Yes.

- That's in my wallet.

- Maybe it's tradition.

- I didn't know a thing about this.

- And you never heard that story.

- I've never heard that story.

- Yes.

Yes.

- I don't think I've seen, if I did, I have forgotten.

- Absolutely.

- I love it.

I love it, I'm gonna give you these two dollar bills.

- So these two, look at that.

- This is why I love my job.

I got best job in the world, man.

The next item, you're already about to cry- - I know.

- Before I even pull it out.

- I don't even know what it is.

You're really messing with me today.

- All right.

- Oh my gosh.

Yeah.

- This is the telegraph key.

- Oh wow.

- Walk me through this, tell me who's it was.

Tell me about it.

- Okay, give me a minute.

- Where did you find the, we knew we had that.

- That was in the attic.

- We know exactly what it is.

- That was in the attic.

- Oh.

Okay.

- And my dad's first job was to go, start in Canada, and come all the way down to Florida.

And take all the telegraph keys out and put phones in.

While they weren't modern phones, they were phones that you cranked and you held the little thing and you talked through like this, so he went and he did all that.

- Yeah.

- And then the next time he went down, he put in modern phones.

But they were the rotary phones.

- Yeah.

- He did that several times in his life, because once I started dating her, he came down and replaced the old Edison type bulbs.

- Yes.

- With the big copper.

And you pushed them in.

- So did he change these insulators out?

- Yes, absolutely.

He climbed poles.

- All right.

- He was a pole climber.

- And then within the same room we found all of this.

- This isn't something he'd used, but he was a hammer collector, so he got this as a collection with his hammers.

- I think dads are the talking point for this family.

They're both really proud of the men that their fathers were.

So we talked about your dad.

- Yep.

- We're gonna talk about your dad.

- Okay.

- Aah!

- All right.

- I haven't seen that in a while.

- Yeah.

Seriously.

- We've got the lanyard.

- Oh my goodness.

- We've got his patches and I'm very familiar with these patches.

- Ah, you found his patches.

- You get stopped quite a bit?

- Back in my day, in my day.

- Look at this.

Wow.

- Tell me about your day.

- It's so cool.

- Six foot, imposing.

We didn't go out and play ball and then play catch.

He wasn't a card playing person, but he wasn't not fun either, I don't wanna say that.

But this went over his shoulder and I can remember him having it and I don't know exactly how that goes.

I don't even know when I got that.

It was probably after his passing, but it was something he had that I wanted.

- Yeah.

- I see that and I see him in the state trooper uniform, throbbing it.

- Every picture I have he's in his uniform.

- Yes.

Yes.

- Every single picture.

- Yes, this big hat that he would have on his head when he was in his car, in his state trooper car.

He couldn't, he had to have the hat on and he- - Yeah, he wore the hat in the car.

- He was too tall, So he would drive like this.

- [Matt] You knew his dad.

How would his dad feel about the person he's become?

- Oh, absolutely thrilled.

He was thrilled, just the fact that Stephen was going through training and all the things that he was going through, yeah.

- He came down- - Very proud.

- And he came down and gave me my, when I got commissioned.

- He actually pinned his wings on.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- So your dad pinned you.

- Yeah.

- And y'all pinned.

- Just about.

- Yeah, and we pinned it.

- Oh.

That's ugh, that's awesome.

- That's cool stuff.

- Yep.

- All right.

The last piece.

- Oh.

- Is the locks.

- [Cheryl] You found it.

Absolutely.

- I love this collection.

- This was something that sat on my dad's desk down in the basement, he made this.

- Oh, the box.

- Handmade box.

- He made this box, he found the hinge somewhere, 'cause he always reused everything.

He never threw anything away like that.

And every now and then he'd pull one out and go, "Yeah, I got this of from so and so in such a state."

And I can tell you where everything was.

- Tell a story.

- Just so cool.

- I have a career just begging people to tell their stories.

- Right.

- And y'all can finish each other's stories.

- Oh yeah.

- [Matt] And I gotta hunch if your kids were here, they could too.

- Oh yeah.

They've heard them a million times.

- You're doing it right.

- Oh, thanks.

- I think when you have a solid family unit, it's less important where you are.

The location doesn't matter as much as the people that are there.

And you can see that type of story throughout generations with this family.

You built this incredible place and I keep looking around like, how you gonna leave?

- Yeah.

- And y'all seem okay about it?

- We might end up right here till the end.

- They'll be okay, they've dealt with a lot bigger things in their life than moving.

And so I like that they're taking the approach of, "Hey, let's just sit down, let's tell the stories and we'll get through this."

- You feel like family, thank you.

- We feel like it too.

- Good.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

- It's supposed to be.

All right.

- You're very welcome.

- Thank you.

All right.

Can I hug you?

- Yes.

- Oh!

(soothing music) - [Narrator] Funding for "Legacy List" is provided by Wheaton World Wide Moving.

Wheaton's number one goal is to help you, your loved ones and your belongings get to your new home quickly and safely.

You can find us at wheatonworldwide.com.

Wheaton World Wide moving, we move your life.

First Light Home Care, committed to providing safe and compassionate home services for you and your family.

First Light believes personal relationships and engagement are as important as mobility, bathing, and personal hygiene.

Details at FirstLightHomeCare.com.

(soothing music) (soothing music continues) (soothing music continues) (soothing music continues) - [Narrator] Visit MyLegacyList.com to learn more about the tips, tools, and professionals to help make your own big life move easier.

Learn more about this episode, or submit your story to be featured on the show at MyLegacyList.com.

(soothing music) (upbeat theme tune)