26 years later, man receives Father’s Day card from son who died of AIDS
By Will Stroude
A man has finally received a 26-year-old Father’s Day card sent by his estranged son who died from an AIDS-related illness two decades ago.
87-year-old Duane Schrock from Virginia told ABC that the letter from his son, Duane Jnr. who died in 1995, was a “sign from heaven”.
The card was originally sent in 1989, but as Mr Schrock had moved from his home in Arizona he never received it, and the letter was lost in the mail for 26 years before finally making its way to him.
Mr Schrock said that he and Duane Jnr. had fallen out over his son’s sexuality in the years before the card was first sent. Tragically, Duane Jnr.’s attempt to reach out to his father was never received, and he later died of an AIDS-related illness in 1995.
The card read: “Dear Dad, we haven’t been in touch for quite a while, I’m doing fine and am very happy in Richmond, I’d like to hear from you. Have a Happy Father’s Day, Love Duane.”
Saying the note was “sure welcome” two decades after his son’s death, Mr Schrock said: “Somebody picked up the ball and carried it and after all these years they must still have forwarded it.
“I still kind of tear up when I think about it.”
Watch ABC’s news report below:
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