Woman Thought She Found a Binder of Her Late Grandmother's Taxes, but Never Expected What Was Actually Inside (Exclusive)
Woman Thought She Found a Binder of Her Late Grandmother's Taxes, but Never Expected What Was Actually Inside (Exclusive)
Tereza ShkurtajSun, June 7, 2026 at 9:28 AM UTC
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Peggy Kelpe's celebrity-filled binder.Credit: Madelyn Mikelson -
After her grandmother's death, Madelyn Mikelson found a black binder she thought contained documents or tax records
Instead, it was filled with celebrity photos and notes, including pages dedicated to A-ha singer Morten Harket
The TikTok video of Mikelson's discovery quickly went viral, surpassing 5 million views and prompting an outpouring of support ahead of her grandmother's celebration of life
When Madelyn Mikelson began cleaning out her grandmother's bedroom after her death earlier this year, she assumed the black binder sitting among piles of paperwork contained tax records.
It would have made perfect sense for a woman who "loved finances" and spent years serving as treasurer for various clubs and organizations. But when the 28-year-old opened it, she discovered page after page dedicated to celebrity crushes, carefully cataloged facts and one very specific obsession.
"I wasn't expecting to see Morten Harket when I opened the binder, but I wasn't surprised either," Mikelson tells PEOPLE exclusively.
The quirky discovery came in May 2026, while Mikelson was helping sort through the belongings of her grandmother, Peggy Kelpe, who died of cancer in February at the age of 82.
While other family members had also been working through much of the house, they saved Kelpe's bedroom for Mikelson because of the close relationship the two shared over the years.
At first glance, Mikelson honestly thought the binder would be filled with tax papers, given that her late grandmother always completed her own taxes. But instead of receipts and financial records, the binder contained photos of celebrities alongside handwritten notes about their birthdays, heights and other personal details.
While the contents may have seemed unusual to outsiders, Mikelson immediately recognized pieces of her grandmother's personality throughout the collection. Kelpe had loved numbers, facts and statistics, making the detailed cataloging feel surprisingly on-brand.
Yet even among all the familiar quirks, there was one revelation that caught the family off guard.
"The only thing that was kind of surprising was the zodiac signs," Mikelson reveals. "Nobody in our family realized that she was interested in zodiac signs, so we got to learn that about her from her binder."
Madelyn Mikelson and her late grandmother, Peggy Kelpe.Credit: Madelyn Mikelson
Among the many celebrities featured in the collection, Morten Harket, the frontman of the synth-pop band A-ha, was clearly a favorite. But his presence throughout the binder wasn't exactly shocking to those who knew Kelpe.
Her admiration for Harket was well documented long before the binder surfaced. She belonged to multiple fan clubs, kept photos of him around her home and even traveled to Germany with her daughter to see the band perform.
"She was sick for a long time, so seeing them live was one of the last big things she wanted to do while she still had the strength," Mikelson explains.
The binder also featured a few names that made Mikelson laugh. While Matthew McConaughey stood out because he seemed different from many of her grandmother's usual celebrity crushes, another actor helped explain a memory that had puzzled her for years.
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"I giggled when I saw Keanu Reeves," she recalls. "A few years ago I spent my spring break with her and she made me watch all of the John Wick movies with her. Now I know why!"
Madelyn Mikelson and her late grandmother, Peggy Kelpe.Credit: Madelyn Mikelson
Nevertheless, looking through the pages, Mikelson couldn't help but see the binder as something more meaningful than a celebrity scrapbook.
Created during her grandmother's retirement years in 2013, the collection reflected a woman who had embraced a sense of fun and curiosity that many tend to lose as they get older.
"I like to believe that with age and free time, she was able to embrace a little bit more girlhood whimsy and hope than the rest of us adults," Mikelson says, adding that the timing of the binder's creation only strengthened her theory.
"This binder was made around the time she joined the Morten fan clubs and named a cat after him, so I think this was just her Morten era," Mikelson laughs.
Madelyn Mikelson's late grandmother, Peggy Kelpe.Credit: Madelyn Mikelson
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What initially began as a video intended for family quickly became an internet sensation. Mikelson posted a TikTok of the binder's contents and was stunned when it took off, eventually racking up more than 5 million views.
The timing made the response even more meaningful. Mikelson shared the video just one day before her grandmother's celebration of life. As family and friends gathered to honor her grandmother, Mikelson's phone was constantly buzzing with notifications from strangers online who had fallen in love with the binder.
Everyone loved the book so much, in fact, that Mikelson's mom put it on display at the celebration of life.
Momentos from Madelyn Mikelson's grandmother.Credit: Madelyn Mikelson
Instead of facing the difficult day with only grief, Mikelson and her family found themselves reading messages from people around the world who were celebrating Kelpe's humor, personality and unapologetic devotion to her celebrity crushes.
The unexpected outpouring of support brought moments of laughter and comfort at a time when they needed it most.
"Everyone celebrated her and her binder, with lots of people calling her queen, diva and a baddie," Mikelson tells PEOPLE. "All the love, support, and jokes that the video received really brightened our spirits on what could've been a really hard day."
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
