Sorry: North Carolinian returns Roman artifact 25 years later
A North Carolina woman who returned a chunk of ancient Rome to Italian authorities 25 years after her husband pocketed it said Thursday she never felt comfortable keeping the terra cotta fragment, but her eldest son's death prompted her to set things right.
"Whenever I looked at it, I'd feel bad about it," said Janice Johnsen, 52, of Greensboro. "Then, a little over a year ago, our oldest son was killed suddenly. Since then, we've been struggling with some hard things."
The pocketed fragment "kept nagging at me," she said. She decided "if we get in trouble, we get in trouble, but I need to return it."
Johnsen didn't tell her husband, Mike, about her decision until after she had returned the artifact. She mailed it anonymously, but put her return address on the package.
The couple was visiting Italy about 25 years ago while on a trip for Mike's new job. He bent over and picked up the fist-sized fragment of a slab of terra cotta near the Colosseum, putting it in his pocket. It then sat on a shelf with their other travel souvenirs.
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"Whenever I looked at it, I'd feel bad about it," said Janice Johnsen, 52, of Greensboro. "Then, a little over a year ago, our oldest son was killed suddenly. Since then, we've been struggling with some hard things."
The pocketed fragment "kept nagging at me," she said. She decided "if we get in trouble, we get in trouble, but I need to return it."
Johnsen didn't tell her husband, Mike, about her decision until after she had returned the artifact. She mailed it anonymously, but put her return address on the package.
The couple was visiting Italy about 25 years ago while on a trip for Mike's new job. He bent over and picked up the fist-sized fragment of a slab of terra cotta near the Colosseum, putting it in his pocket. It then sat on a shelf with their other travel souvenirs.