Entertainment And News

An 88-Year-Old Woman Received A Letter From Her Parents For Her Birthday Decades After They Passed Away

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Old woman receiving a letter in the mail

As soon as you finish checking out your order online, you’re probably filled to the brim with excitement as you hit “Track Order” and wait by the front door for your package — but have you ever had to wait 48 years for that package to arrive in the mail?

That’s what one 88-year-old woman from Calion, Arkansas had to do. One fateful day in late February, after Willa Davis’s neighbor had picked up her mail for her, she received a letter from her parents that she had never expected to see.

The 88-year-old woman received a birthday card and a letter from her parents from 1975.

Davis, a long-time resident of Calion, Arkansas, and a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, was beaming with excitement when her neighbor handed her the envelope that had been postmarked on August 19, 1975 — just days before she would turn 42 years old, according to KTVE in 2021.

“You hear about it with other people but not yourself,” Davis told the news station, going on to describe that day as one that she would never forget.

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Inside the envelope was a Hallmark birthday card that was signed by her parents, James and Effie Presley. Also inside the envelope was a three-page-long letter that was handwritten and also came from her parents.

“Have a good birthday. We love you and hope to see you soon. But if you can’t come we’ll be thinking of you on your birthday,” the end of it read.

According to the publication, Davis lost her parents in 1982 and 1999, so the unexpected letter brought back many of her memories of them while also bringing tears to her eyes.

“So touching to feel a letter that she once held and to see her writing. So precious,” Davis said, speaking of her mom. “She was a wonderful lady.”

Despite her parents having lived a mere three hours away in Mount Vernon, Arkansas, the letter took 46 years to arrive at her home — but that wasn’t all.

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Willa Davis received another letter in the mail that was 35 years old.

That same week, Davis received a second letter, this time from her nephew, Andy. The letter was addressed to Davis’s mother-in-law, or Andy’s grandmother, Versa Davis.

Andy wanted to let Versa know that he was planning on visiting her in February 1988, but clearly, she hadn’t gotten the memo. The letter had originally been postmarked in 1983 in Washington, D.C., and later postmarked in a Little Rock post office 33 years later.

Willa and her family are unsure of why both these letters took decades to get to them, but one thing’s for sure — they believe it’s a miracle. “I sincerely praised the Lord that this letter was received,” Willa’s daughter, Bobbie Davis said. 

“I felt it was a gift from God to remind us that, not only is He thinking of us, but we are also being thought of by our loved ones in Heaven. What wonderful thoughts to be blessed with.”

Willa has spread the story to anyone and everyone that would listen, including her plumber and her hairdresser, and plans on keeping this letter close to her heart.

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Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.