Tessa is holding out hope someone still has what she accidentally gave away
17:04, 10 Feb 2026Updated 17:31, 10 Feb 2026
Alexis ‘Lexi’ Schlesinger – RIP(Image: Tessa Schlesinger)
A mum who accidentally gave away her late daughter’s mementos folder – filled with photos of her and memories from throughout her life – is launching a desperate appeal to find it.
Alexis ‘Lexi’ Schlesinger, 40, passed away on 4th December 2025 at the Mercy Hospital after a brave battle with bowl cancer. She had been living in Douglas in Cork for the past four years with her mother Tessa after moving over from the US, and was working as a secretary with the HSE. Tessa said her daughter lived an incredible life and the pair moved to Ireland so that Lexi could look after her as she got older. She told Cork Beo: “Even when she was in hospital, she kept apologising to me, and made all of her friends promise to look after me if she died.”
Throughout her time in hospital, Lexi had countless visitors from friends travelling from far overseas, many of whom brought gifts like magazines and puzzle books. Once Lexi became very unwell and only had a few weeks to live, Tessa decided to give these presents away as her daughter could no longer use them. She took them back to her house in Douglas, but while decluttering one evening, she accidentally put them into a pile with Lexi’s personal belongings. These were all handed into the book exchange at Douglas Village Shopping Centre, and Tessa hasn’t seen them since.
Alexis ‘Lexi’ Schlesinger
After her daughter’s passing, she searched frantically to find these belongings before realised she must have given them away by accident. Tessa launched an urgent appeal on social media to locate them, and also shared her story to Paul Byrne on Cork’s 96FM – but told Cork Beo today that they still haven’t turned up. She said: “I’ve been under a lot of stress lately. My mind was so blank, I didn’t even remember going to the book exchange at all.
“I spent a month trying to understand where they could have gone before the memory came back. The people at the Douglas book exchange were very kind and took me around to find them but they were gone. Now, I don’t know what the chances are of finding it. I’m just reaching out in the hope that maybe someone picked them up and still has them.”
Tessa believes a number of Lexi’s belongings may have been given away – the most important of which was a folder filled photos and letters from “the last 25 years of her life.” These include memetos from past careers and hobbies, including from her work with NASA at the San Diego Science Museum, and her teaching job at a school for children with autism. Lexi was also very involved with the San Diego Comic-Con, and kept a number of pictures of her with celebrity guests they had over the years.
Tessa Schlesinger
Tessa is urging anyone who has taken anything from the Douglas book exchange over the past few months to search for her daughter’s belongings. Her folder is less than an inch thick and is filled with polly pockets, and may have the words ‘Parliament Hill’ written on the front. This is the name of a school Lexi attended in London, which is where she got the folder. Tessa believes she also may have accidentally given away some smaller notebooks where Lexi used to write notes and short stories.
Lexi was known as ‘Alexis Schlesinger’ in the US and UK, and as ‘Alexis Richards’ in Ireland – it’s possible that both names or either will appear on any of her belongings. Tessa is still heartbroken at the loss of her daughter, but is holding out hope that someone in Cork will be able to return what she accidentally gave away.