The 85-year-old South Florida woman says she found a $17,500 insurance claim check from 1978 inside a nightstand drawer.
She had been looking for a photo of her ex-husband.
It was payment for an insurance claim from 1976.
Her car was damaged under the Brooklyn Bridge, when a tarp filled with rainwater hit it.
Cosgrove could have a hard collecting, though.
That insurance company is no longer in business.