A Christmas surprise 33 years later......

18 years ago

First a little background info. My dad was killed 33 years ago, when I was 3 yrs old and my brother was 8 months old. He was killed by a hit and run driver.

My mom and dad at that time lived in Texas, while all their families lived here in Ohio. When my dad was killed, there were never any pictures taken of my dad and my brother. And since they weren't near any family, nobody had taken pictures of the 2 of them together.

Well, yesterday, my aunt Amy came over. Her husband is my uncle Chris, who is my dad's brother. They bought my Grandma's house when she sold it, and just moved out of that house last year. That house was the house my Grandma raised all of her kids in. So yesterday, Amy is going through all of her boxes looking for Christmas decorations, and finds a letter in an envelope, written by my dad to my grandma and grandpa. My aunt said it was probably in the attic and when they moved it got shoved in a box somehow.

This letter tells how he had just gotten his Texas driver's license and that the day he writes the letter my mom is going to go get her's. It tells how he is going to be getting his Game Warden License soon. And it tells how my brother, Trevor, is starting to crawl, and as my dad says "he's fast and sneaky, just like me! haha!" He also says that things are going great for them, and "couldn't be any better."

My mom and I were looking at the letter last night, and she said she went and got her license on her birthday because her Ohio one was going to expire on her birthday, which was Sept. 20th.

What this means, is that my dad wrote this letter 11 days before he was killed. He was killed Oct. 1, 1974.

I didn't cry until last night when it hit me that he had no idea when writing that letter that he would be gone in 11 days.

I called my Grandma and told her what was found. She said she would like a copy and then would like it given to my brother too. We all 3 (mom, grandma, and me) believe that it should go to him. Finally, he will have something tangible that links him to my dad. My grandma said she also feels that there is a reason that after 33 years, that letter was found now, at Christmas time.

Here's a picture of my dad and me the year before he was killed, in 1973.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Tammy

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Comments (39)

angelaid
18 years ago
That made me cry. Bless your heart, Tammy.
Happy Holidays to you and your family.
nodakgal
18 years ago
Oh my goodness Tammy!
What a treasure! I think your Gramma is right, there is a reason that letter was found now!
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lynn_d
18 years ago
What a heartwarming story, I too think your grandma is right. In fact, I think your dad is sending you a message.
heatherinohio
18 years ago
What a precious Christmas gift. :) Thank you for sharing your story.

Merry Christmas to you. ((((hugs))))
kathy813
18 years ago
A Christmas miracle.
Lindsey_CA
18 years ago
What a wonderful Christmas present for you!
Linda Wayman
18 years ago
I agree it is a Christmas miracle. That must mean so much to you and your family. Thank you for sharing the story with us.

Linda
alisande
18 years ago
Oh, Tammy, that's wonderful! And, as was said earlier, no coincidence.
nan_ar
18 years ago
Tammy what a great Christmas surprise for you and your family.

Made me teary eyed.

Thanks for sharing.
donna_oh
18 years ago
Loved your story!

Merry Christmas, Donna (^_^)
teresava
18 years ago
That's amazing Tammy!! What a wonderful gift to get right before Christmas.

Made me realize that I don't have a lot of pictures of my dad and I either. He died when I was 10.
Cherryfizz
18 years ago
How wonderful for you Tammy! My eyes watered reading your post. Your Dad sent you a wonderful Christmas present for you to always treasure.

Anne
bestlawn
18 years ago
Big lump in my throat.
I'm so happy for you all.
Your brother is going to cry, too.
okwriter
18 years ago
Thank you for sharing that, Tammy! What a delightful gift from above. *wink*

I can tell from the picture that your dad adored you!
bestlawn
18 years ago
{{!gwi}}
dirt_yfingernails
18 years ago
Your daddy found a way to come back to be with you all for Christmas. That is such a wonderful story.
lydia1959
18 years ago
What a wonderful thing to find after all these years!

Your post brought tears to my eyes too.
((((Tammy))))
ronf_gw
18 years ago
What a wonderful keepsake.
Blessings to you and your family.
Ron
jae_tn2
18 years ago
teary eyed here also.....what a wonderful thing to have appear at this time of year!
minnie_tx
18 years ago
Precious memories!!
Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
18 years ago
Thanks for sharing your wonderful story and your new found surprise!

Sue
gwanny2three
18 years ago
I love stories like this! This is a wonderful gift you got from your father!
Mickey15
Original Author
18 years ago
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and replies.

Thank you Bestlawn for making the picture clearer, I saved it on my hard drive. Thanks very much for that.

And Jae! I'm so happy to see you here posting!
ntt_hou
18 years ago
Oh, I do believe in these things. I had a similar story that happened to my family. I don't want to hijack your posting so I'll keep it short.

After my dad past away a couple of weeks, I found he had some unclaimed money and helped my mom to claim it. The money arrived a couple of days before Xmas. It was the first holiday season w/o my dad so I comfort my mom and told her that dad hadn't forgot her Xmas gift =)

Cheers and Have a Safe Holidays!
brenda_in_tx
18 years ago
What a wonderful story - thank you for sharing, and the picture is awesome.
User
18 years ago
I'm sure I'm stating the obvious, but anyway -- there is such love in your dad's eyes as he's looking at you. Truly there is.
vannie
18 years ago
I love the way your dad is looking at you. Priceless. What a happy, uplifting post. Thanks for sharing w/ us.
czech_chick
18 years ago
Awww, thank you for sharing this with us!

Merry Christmas!

{{!gwi}}
kayjones
18 years ago
OK, now I've got misty eyes, too - you see, my husband died this past April, from pancreatic cancer. What a touching story!
maryanntx
18 years ago
What a wonderful Christmas gift! I bet just holding and reading that letter is like having part of your Dad right there with you.
cherbo
18 years ago
What a precious keep sake for you to find, and so close to Christmas too. I hope your brother enjoys it too.
jannie
18 years ago
What a sad yet wonderful thing to happen!
susanjf_gw
18 years ago
how touching and what a wonderful christmas memory for us all...thank you for sharing...
liketolearn
18 years ago
What a wonderful story!

How about framing the original letter and giving it to your brother as a gift from Santa! After all it seems as if the magic of Christmas bought the letter back to him. Each time he sees it, it will be a reminder of how much he was loved by your Dad!

And while your at it ... I'd frame a copy for yourself and include the picture as it's a wonderful story to tell when people ask.
msmarion
18 years ago
What a wonderful Christmas find. Great picture of you and your Dad. You brother is going to be so surprised. I like the idea of framing the letter. Michael's could mat and frame it for you.
I lost my mother when I was two and can understand how special the letter and the picture are to you.
tami_ohio
18 years ago
Tammy, what a wonderful gift! I also like liketolearn's idea of framing it for a gift for your brother, and one for you, too!

Merry Christmas

Tami
Mickey15
Original Author
18 years ago
Framing would be a great idea except that it is a letter written on both sides of the paper. My mom is getting him a clear sleeve to slide it into. That way he can pull it out easily whenever he wants to hold it, and yet it will still be protected. It is in really good shape for being 33 years old, we figure probably because it was stored in an envelope in the attic and away from any direct light which kept it from fading or getting damaged.

My brother was really happy, I guess that's the only way I can describe it. He just kept holding it and reading it over and over saying "This is really neat". And he kept smiling. I told him "It's like Dad gave us a present this year" and he smiled and said "Yep!"
ntt_hou
18 years ago
How about using a double sided frame? There are several types. One I can think of is like an open card that sits on a table/desk. You may need to do a copy for the back but that might work for a wonderful gift.

If you have a scanner, you may want to scan the letter & photo for a "forever keep".
tannatonk23_fl_z9a
18 years ago
Aww Tammy, that is such a bittersweet story. Thank you so much for sharing. And you're picture with your dad is just precious.

~Betsy

A Christmas surprise 33 years later......

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