An 87-year-old recently received a Father’s Day card from his son a full 26 years after it was first posted.
Duane Schrock, Jr. was estranged from his dad, who wasn’t comfortable with his son being gay at the time.
However, in a lovely gesture, Schrock sent a Father’s Day card in 1989 to try and reconnect, but the letter didn’t arrive until this year.
Duane Schrock, Sr. now lives in Lynchburg, Virginia and said the letter was like getting a message from beyond the grave, after his son tragically passed away in 1995 from AIDS complications at just 45-years-old.
Speaking to WSET, Shrock Sr. said:
I still kind of tear up when I think about it. To get it a few days after Father’s Day (but) mailed in 1989.
Schrock, Sr. has moved around the U.S for decades and believes the card must have kept getting forwarded until it finally found him last month.
The card, featuring an illustration of a panda bear cuddling a baby panda, had a simple peacemaking message written inside:
Dear Dad, we haven’t been in touch for quite a while. I’m doing fine and am very happy in Richmond, I’d like to hear from you. Have a Happy Father’s Day, Love Duane.
Schrock, Sr. was overjoyed to get the letter and thanked the post office, adding that the fact that postal workers were so persistent, “Restored (his) faith in the mail service”.
