(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A postal worker in DeKalb, Illinois, managed to deliver a letter that was first mailed more than 80 years ago.
Written in 1943, the letter expressed condolences to Louis and Lavena George, who had lost a child. It was sent by a family member and postmarked in June of that year.
A postal worker finally got the letter into the hands of their daughters, with the help of social media.
A surviving daughter of the Georges spoke to CBS 23 in Rockford.
“A message from the past, seemingly showing up out of nowhere, that’s pretty incredible,” Jeannette George said. “Everybody was just like, ‘My god,' you know? Gobsmacked."
The postal worker who discovered the letter said it was probably not delivered because of an incomplete address. The worker went to the effort of tracking the family's name through social media until they reached a relative who figured out who it was meant for.
Jeannette told local media she was overwhelmed when it was finally delivered.
"It just sort of put me in touch with my parents’ grief and the losses my family went through before I was even born,” she said. The letter was sent by Louis’ first cousin, who was sending her condolences after Louis and Lavena lost a daughter, Evelyn, to cystic fibrosis.
"I got emotional about it, I mean losing a child is always horrific,” Jeanette told WBAL-TV.