Imagine this: a letter mailed over eight decades ago finally finds its way home to a family in Illinois.
This isn’t a plot from a movie, but a real-life story that unfolded by a stroke of luck.
The letter, mailed in June 1943, was meant for Louis and Lavena George of DeKalb, a town about 70 miles west of Chicago.
The sender?
The family patriarch’s first cousin, who wanted to offer words of comfort after the couple lost their daughter, Evelyn, to Cystic Fibrosis.
The letter’s journey is as mysterious as it is heartwarming.
It resurfaced at the DeKalb Post Office, but with a twist – the original address lacked a house number.
This small detail set the letter on an 80-year detour, only to be discovered by a diligent post office employee who took it upon themselves to find the rightful recipients.
Grace Salazar, one of Louis and Lavena’s daughters, became the eventual recipient of this long-lost piece of family history.
Her sister, Jeannette, also had the opportunity to read the letter, bridging a gap across generations.
The George family’s story is one of resilience and love; Louis and Lavena married in 1932 and had eight children, with Jeannette and Grace being the only two surviving siblings.
Louis George passed away in 1986 at the age of 74, while Lavena lived until 2012, reaching the impressive age of 98.
Their lives, marked by both joy and sorrow, are a testament to the enduring nature of family bonds.
When Jeannette learned about the letter, she was deeply moved.
“It’s incredible,” she said.
The letter not only connected her to her parents’ past grief but also to the losses her family endured before she was even born. I
t’s a poignant reminder of the hardships and love that weave through the fabric of a family’s history.
The mystery of the letter’s delayed delivery intrigued many.
According to the post office employee who found it, the missing house number on the address was likely the reason it got lost in the first place.
But how did it resurface after all these years?
The U.S. Postal Service shed some light on this.
They explained that often, old letters and postcards are found at flea markets or antique shops and then re-entered into the postal system.
“The end result is what we do best – as long as there is a deliverable address and postage, the card or letter gets delivered,” said Tim Norman from USPS Strategic Communications.
Norman highlighted the sheer volume of mail the USPS handles – 160 billion pieces annually, averaging over 5 million per business day.
Since 1943, trillions of pieces of mail have been processed and delivered, making the journey of this one letter all the more extraordinary.
For Jeannette, the experience has deepened her appreciation for her family, especially her nieces and nephews.
“I just have more of a sense of continuity of life, of families,” she reflected.
This letter, delayed by decades, has not only connected a family to its past but also underscored the unbreakable bonds that hold them together.
To learn more about this incredible story form the past, watch the video below.
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