“Dear Sarah, Beverly and All, I am enjoying the trip and safe so far. I slept all night at Snyder, Texas, at the Strayhorn Motel and feel rested. I sure wish you were with me. Today I went to Carlsbad Caverns. Love, Bill. P.S. I am sending you and Beverly a package from a souvenir store near here.”

During a 1958 visit to New Mexico, Bill Bragg sent a postcard to his wife at their home in Macon, Georgia. It just recently arrived after being lost for 52 years. Thankfully, the Braggs had never moved. Ed Grisamore of the Macon Telegraph has a story about the long-delayed card. An excerpt:

“The 5-cent postcard — with a few bumps, bruises, blue-ink smears and a 3-cent stamp barely hanging on — somehow reached its final destination.

The postmark was Nov. 10, 1958. It had been mailed from Whites City, N.M.

Oh, well. Better late than never.

A lot of things have changed, though.

Wilmer ‘Bill’ Bragg Jr. was a 30-year-old Marine when he penned those words. He’s now an 82-year-old great-grandfather and needs a magnifying glass to read them.

The Braggs still live on the same property along Liberty Church Road. It has been in Sarah’s family since 1943.

‘This incident is extremely rare and, over the course of postal history, it is always a great moment when we are able to deliver the mail no matter what condition it is in,’ said Nancy Ross, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service in the South Georgia District.”