ANN ARBOR, MI – A Western Union telegram congratulating him for graduating arrived May 2, 1969, at the apartment Robert Fink had shared with three University of Michigan classmates.

The telegram, from Ben and Lillian Fischman, parents of one of Fink’s childhood friends, wished him well on his accomplishment and expressed regret they wouldn’t be able to share the big day with him.

It arrived a day too late.

Fink, a Buffalo, New York, native who earned his UM degree in history and literature, already was headed back to his hometown for graduate school at the State University of New York. He had packed his belongings at 316 E. Madison St. in Ann Arbor the day before without any expectation of returning to Michigan.

But, as Fink puts it, “life took over.” After graduate school and some internships, he did come back to Michigan to begin a 45-year career as an Oakland University professor, while also operating a Rochester Hills psychology practice.

Uniting Fink with the telegram took much longer. It arrived in the mail at his psychology practice at the start of this year.

“I had never received a telegram. I don’t remember my parents ever receiving a telegram,” Fink said. “In many ways, our perception of telegrams was shaped by the movies. You had to be a really important person and it had to be some kind of earth-shaking event that led to getting a telegram.”

Reflecting on 1969

Fink had grown to love and appreciate the Ann Arbor campus after moving from Buffalo at the urging of a friend’s sister who had attended UM. In those days, Fink said out-of-state tuition was “very affordable,” particularly in comparison to private schools on the East Coast.

Fink worked a student job in the reserved section of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library to earn some extra cash and frequented Angell Hall, where most of his classes were. On Thursday nights, he and some friends would hang out at the old Pretzel Bell bar after they got out of class.

This was a tumultuous time for the country amid protests of the Vietnam War, Fink said, leading to real concerns he might be drafted after graduation. He appealed to the draft board after enrolling in graduate school and was never drafted, but it remained a major focus around graduation.

“There was this real undertone of what the hell is going to happen here?” he said. “We felt like we were at this great point in our lives, but who knew where we would be six months later.”

‘This has to be a scam’

A few days before Christmas 2018, Christina Zaske had lost a piece of paper that got stuck and fell behind a drawer inside an old file cabinet now owned by Ann Arbor-based digital marketing agency ICON Interactive.

She removed the bottom drawer to grab the piece of paper, only to find old, yellowed papers, including what appeared to be a telegram.

“I looked inside, mostly because I was curious to see an actual telegram,” Zaske said.

The telegram had Fink’s name on it, so, naturally, she Googled his name and found his Oakland University email address. She confirmed he was the correct Robert Fink and let him know she wanted to send him the telegram.

On the surface, it had all the makings of a good scam, Fink said.

“Needless to say, a well put together scam also piques your interest … and I was interested," he said.

Fink gave Zaske his psychology practice mailing address, not expecting anything would come of it. When the telegram arrived in the mail after the holidays, the words “our hearts and best wishes are with you” were pasted onto the piece of paper.

It brought back vivid memories of his adolescence – of playing with the Fischman’s son, Arnie, and his final year at Michigan.

“It also left me with a funny sense of guilt that they had thought about me that way,” Fink said. “It took some effort to send a telegram - it's not like texting someone. It touched me they had thought about me and made the effort to do so.

“And, of course, I never thanked them,” he said, noting the Fischmans had long since died.

The long arm of the past

For Zaske, the unlikely scenario has come and gone with hardly a second thought. The telegram seemed important enough to hunt down its intended recipient, she said.

"Dr. and Mrs. Fischman took the time to express their regrets on not being able to attend his graduation, so I thought he might have a sentimental connection to the telegram,” Zaske said. “I feel that I have fulfilled my duty in reconnecting Mr. Fink with the telegram. I was surprised to learn that he had never received the telegram and was glad that I could reunite it with its intended recipient all of these years later.”

Getting the telegram has caused Fink to reflect on old and perhaps lost connections, including Arnie Fischman.

“I’m a psychologist, I like having conversations with people,” said Fink, who plans to retire from Oakland University this summer. “It has brought them back to mind more and left me feeling like I need to get in touch with them.”

Ironically, others from Fink’s past reached out to him around the same time he received the telegram, including a student he trained as a psychologist.

The woman, who now lives in Tuscon, Arizona, sent Fink a Christmas card “out of the blue.” As fate would have it, Fink was in Tuscon last week and met up with her for dinner.

“The theme for me has been that the long arm of the past is reaching out and grabbing me, and I should take it seriously,” he said.