STANWOOD, Wash. — You never know what you'll find when you start looking through a box of old photos.
Megan Dascher-Watkins was going through some of her late mother's possessions when she discovered a bin of yearbooks, newspaper clippings, and photographs from Mercer Island High School.
The class of 1960 had a few notable alumni. Among them was Stanley Ann Dunham, mother to former President Barack Obama.
"She's the Obama mama," said Dascher-Watkins. "It's kind of exciting to have a part of history."
Dascher-Watkins learned that her mom was friends with the former president's mom.
"You have that, what is it, five degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon?" I have two degrees from Obama," said Dascher-Watkins, who said she's a huge fan of the 44th president.
Dascher-Watkins said her mom told her Dunham stood out in her class but was really just a normal teenager
"Just part of the girls, just one of the gang," said Dascher-Watkins. "They would have sleepovers and campouts. They would all go skiing."
Dascher-Watkins hopes to collect stories from other classmates and deliver them, along with the photos, to the Obamas, especially their children.
Her three boys got to know their late grandmother well. The Obama kids didn't. Their grandmother passed away in 1995 before Sasha Obama was born.
"Our loved ones live in these pictures and these stories," said Dascher-Watkins. "In some ways, it's kind of the next best thing."
In a way, the photos allow Dascher-Watkins to keep her mom's memory alive.
She wants the Obamas to have every memory possible.
"Looking through the pictures and relating to the sleepovers and campouts, it really puts your parents in a new light," said Dascher-Watkins. "You see them as humans instead of parental units. These memories kind of keep them alive a little bit."