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A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Time again for StoryCorps. In the '90s, Steve and Patti Erickson kept an eye on their 11-year-old neighbor Hannah Mitchell, whose mother had schizophrenia. Mitchell is now an adult, and she spoke with the Ericksons at StoryCorps.
PATTI ERICKSON: We knew that there were issues with your mom, and we were more than happy to always have you over to try to give you a little break from that.
HANNAH MITCHELL: I remember it was nice to see how a normal family acted with each other.
P ERICKSON: It was sometime in October, and the weather had turned cool. I looked out the window, and I saw your mom. You were following after her toward the bus stop. And you looked like you had on every article of clothing you could possibly wear, and your mom was carrying a bag. And I thought, they're leaving. I was really worried about you. And I ran outside, and it was like you'd walked off the planet. And I told Steve, I don't think they're coming back. After that, we saw the landlord and he said, I'm evicting them. And so when they started putting out boxes at the curb, we started going through and we pulled out your schoolwork...
STEVE ERICKSON: Some school photos.
P ERICKSON: ...One of your baby shoes. I mean, it was just all sorts of random stuff, but it was all the stuff that...
MITCHELL: Would mean something.
P ERICKSON: ...Means something to someone.
MITCHELL: So I don't actually remember leaving. I do remember being at the Greyhound bus station. And we went from motel to motel until one day, I thought, I have to get help. I'm not in school. I'm not getting fed. I think I need to go to the police. And so they put me into a foster home.
P ERICKSON: We kept your things in the garage for 20 years. Every time we went through those boxes and moved them aside, every time it was like, should we get rid of these? No. One of these days we're going to find her.
S ERICKSON: Just about a year ago, I was thinking about you again. And so I started searching on Facebook.
MITCHELL: The elementary school that I went to was Lida Hooe Elementary. I posted on that page, and I said, hey, does anybody have any school photos from these years? I have four kids. I desperately wanted to see if my kids looked like me in any capacity 'cause I feel like they all look like my husband.
S ERICKSON: And I found that note of someone from Lida Hooe looking for photos.
MITCHELL: And there it was. I got that message in church, and I looked at my husband. I started crying. What person saves things for that long for someone else?
P ERICKSON: Yeah, two old crazy people.
(LAUGHTER)
MITCHELL: I never thought I'd see anything of my past ever again - pictures of myself, baby items, just childhood. It's back. P.S. my son looks just like me.
(LAUGHTER)
S ERICKSON: We did think of you multiple times a year for years. It was good to be able to find you. And you've become such a strong, confident woman.
P ERICKSON: We couldn't be prouder of you than if we were your own parents, OK?
MITCHELL: Thank you (laughter).
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MARTÍNEZ: Hannah Mitchell with Steve and Patti Erickson in Dallas, Texas. Their conversation is archived at the Library of Congress.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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