A resident of New York City got quite a surprise last week when she received three birthday letters that arrived more than four decades late, local media reported.
Susan Heifetz, 64, received a call from a man living in her childhood home who said he had received a letter for her that was postmarked June 26, 1969, The Brooklyn Paper reported.
When she saw the letter Heifetz immediately recognised it came from her mother for her 19th birthday as it was sealed with lipstick mark.
"That's something my mother did with letters - seal it with a kiss," she told the paper.
Heifetz's parents passed away more than a decade ago.
The postal surprises for Heifetz, a retired member of New York Police Department, did not end with her mother's birthday letter.
Two days later she got two more letters postmarked from 1969. One was from her still living brother, also for her 19th birthday, and the other was from man she dated shortly before he was deployed to Vietnam.
Postal authorities could not provide a concrete explanation for the late deliveries.
A post office spokesperson ruled out the idea that the letters had been floating around the postal system for 45 years.
"What we typically find is that old letters and postcards - sometimes purchased at flea markets, antique shops and even online - are re-entered into our system," Congetta Chirichello, a post office spokeswoman, told the paper.
The letters came as Heifetz had been struggling with a decision about moving to Las Vegas with her brother. The thought of not being able to visit her parents' graves had been holding her back.
"With all that I've been going through, I take this as a sign that my parents will find me no matter where I am," she said.
"This, to me, was the closure I needed," she said.
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