Long-lost photo finally makes it to family
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- It was a chance meeting on one of the biggest days of their lives.
"February 7, 2009. Yes, I remember my wedding day," joked Joey Powell.
But it's what happened the day the couple said 'I do' that the UNC grad will never forget.
"The ceremony ends. We're walking out to get our pictures made, and the first people we see, holy crap that's Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge!" said Powell.
On the lawn of the Carolina Inn, the newlyweds asked legendary UNC basketball coaches Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge to stop for a picture.
"They took the time to not only take a picture but pose and make sure we got a couple of good takes," said Powell. "It was a great day, and that was our first photo as a married couple."
Powell mailed a copy of the photo to the two coaches along with a thank you letter.
"I thought that was the end of it," he said.
The years went by, and in February, Coach Smith passed away. Three months later, Coach Guthridge also passed. Both battled long-term illnesses.
"It's been a tough year for Carolina basketball and the Carolina family," said Powell.
But just this week, the letter Powell sent the coaches so long ago turned up in his old mailbox.
It had been tucked away six years ago in the desk of Dean Smith's secretary and forgotten.
Inside the envelope, Powell discovered a surprise gesture.
"They had both signed a copy of the picture and sent it back!" he said.
The letter arrived on a tough day. The couple's son just had surgery.
"The timing of it was just so cool, and I think it speaks volumes to the kind of people they were," said Powell.
To a pair of Carolina fans on their wedding day, it is a picture worth a thousand words.
"It's not worth a whole lot to anybody but it's worth the world to me," said Powell.
