Cindy was helping her parents clean out the attic one Saturday afternoon. It was a hot summer day and the attic was stuffy and dusty. “I sure hope we find something interesting up here to make this cleaning worth it,” thought Cindy. She had been sorting through old boxes of photos and books for over an hour without finding anything too exciting.

As Cindy moved a large trunk out of the way, she noticed a box tucked away in the corner that was covered in dust. “I wonder what’s in here,” she said aloud. Cindy brushed off the thick layer of dust to reveal an old cardboard box. Lifting the lid, she peered inside and was surprised by what she saw. The box was filled with baseball cards in plastic sleeves organized in binders. “No way, a collection of baseball cards! I can’t believe Mom and Dad had these stashed away up here all these years.”

Cindy pulled out one of the binders and started flipping through the cards. She recognized some of the players like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Hank Aaron from history class. But there were also cards of players she had never heard of before. Intrigued, Cindy decided to do some research on the collection when she got back downstairs. She carefully put the binders back in the box so she could look through them more later. For now, she needed to get the box out of the hot attic.

That evening, after a well-earned pizza dinner for all their hard work cleaning, Cindy grabbed her laptop and the box of baseball cards. She spread the cards out on the kitchen table and started typing player names into Google to learn more. She was fascinated by the stories of the early days of professional baseball in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She read about the first World Series in 1903 and expansion of the league throughout the decades. Cindy enjoyed browsing through photos of old stadiums and uniforms from different eras.

As she flipped through more cards, Cindy started to notice certain years and teams that the players represented. She realized many of the cards were from the 1950s and 1960s, the era of her grandparents when they would have been young. This must have been her grandpa’s collection from when he was a kid, she thought. Cindy found cards of players on the New York Yankees like Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, who won numerous championships during those years. She smiled thinking of her grandpa cheering on his favorite team as a boy.

The next day, Cindy decided to do some more in-depth research on pricing and grading of the baseball cards in her newfound collection. She looked up guides to learn about the different card manufacturers over the decades like Topps, Bowman, and Fleer. Cindy was fascinated that some early cards from the 1910s and 1920s in near mint condition could be worth thousands of dollars. She realized most of the cards in her grandpa’s collection were in well-loved used condition after years of being handled and stored.

Still, Cindy hoped there might be a few gems worth something. She pulled out a magnifying glass and lighting to carefully inspect each card front and back. In one binder from the late 1950s, Cindy found a near mint condition Hank Aaron rookie card from 1954. Looking up recent sale prices online, she was amazed to see similar graded cards had sold for over $25,000. An pristine Mickey Mantle rookie card from 1952 was also in the collection and in great shape. Cindy was thrilled to think she may have just discovered a small fortune in her attic find.

From that point on, Cindy became obsessed with the hobby of baseball cards. She joined online communities to trade and sell cards to grow her new collection. On weekends, she enjoyed browsing card shows and shops with her parents. Cindy even convinced her high school to let her teach an after school baseball card club where other students could learn the history and enjoy collecting too. She was proud that her random discovery of her grandpa’s childhood cards had turned into a lifelong passion. Cindy was grateful to have this connection to her grandfather’s memories and love of the game through the pieces of cardboard he treasured as a boy so many years ago.