Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Mystery as woman receives decades-old letter in the mail

Family has received five pieces of mail in two states dating back decades

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Tuesday 17 May 2022 06:08 BST
Comments
Woman receives decades-old letter in the mail

A New York woman has received a string of mail written as far back as the 1960s, and even the post office admits it has no idea what is going on.

Carol Hover said that the first piece of mysterious correspondence was post-marked 30 August 1960 and sent by her late mother while on her honeymoon.

“The first thing I noticed was my mother’s handwriting,” she told WETM.

“She passed away back in 2014. I found that it was postmarked from Canada in August of 1960. So, they would have been on their honeymoon.”

After she received it, Ms Hovers ays she took it into the post office in Hornell, New York,  “just to have a laugh.”

But post office officials had another surprise in store for her.

(WETM)

“They said, ‘Oh you had a substitute delivery person. We are sorry. Do you know Jim and Peg, the people that sent it?’ I’m like those were my parents. She goes, ‘Oh my gosh! We have two more in the back.’”

And following that more historic post cards began arriving for her, as well as a cousin, who received one at her former family in Minnesota.

“Nobody seems to know, including the post office, how they are getting to us and why,” said Ms Hover.

Despite the mystery, she says that she loves seeing the notes written by her family arrive in the mailbox

“It was just really nice to see my mother’s handwriting on a recent piece of mail, or my father’s” she added.

“That was nice. So whether it gets explained or not, I am okay with that.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in