UPDATE:

• Paternity test reveals Michigan man's 'long-lost son' not related to him

• 'He's my dad': Michigan man remains long lost father despite DNA test that rules out link

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Tony Trapani had dreamed of being a father all his life.

Now at 81, the Grand Rapids man said a letter penned nearly six decades ago that he recently found tucked away in his home, has led him to the son he never knew existed.

Trapani and his newly-discovered son, 61-year-old Samuel Childress of Pennsylvania, met for the first time earlier this week.

"It's a miracle," Childress said, holding his father's hand. "I'm just glad now what time we have just to get to know him - that's very important. It fills that void I've had over the years."

Trapani and his late wife, Gertrude “Dolly” Trapani, did not have children due to a medical condition when Gertrude was younger. The couple had been married for 50 years when she died in 2008.

Last February, Trapani was cleaning out his late wife's filing cabinets at their home and discovered a hand-written letter tucked behind a drawer. It was postmarked March 1959.

“Dear Tony, I bet you are surprised to hear from me after so many years. I was just thinking about you tonight like so many other nights. But I thought I would write you and find out how you are,” the letter reads. “Tony, please don’t be angry or surprised to hear this. I have a little boy. He is five-years- old now – grey eyes and beautiful black hair. What I am trying to say Tony is he is your son.”

The author of the letter is Childress’ mother, Shirley Childress, whom Trapani had previously dated.

“Please Tony if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, please come and see him,” Shirley wrote in the letter. “Every day he asks me where is his daddy and believe me Tony I can’t even answer him anymore. If would be forever grateful to you if you would just see him. … I’ll close now hoping and praying you will answer.

P.S. His name is Samuel Duane.”

“It’s one of those things you think, ‘How could this happen?’” Trapani said Tuesday, Jan. 20, as tears filled his eyes and his son took his hand. “It’s fantastic – but why didn’t I know this ahead of time?”

Family members believe Trapani’s late wife received the letter in the mail years ago and hid it in one of her six work-related filing cabinets. Trapani said he had looked through the filings after his wife died and did not see the letter.

“I never thought of somebody hiding something behind the drawers or anything like that,” he said.

Once Trapani discovered the letter and told his family, they started searching for his long lost son. For nearly a year, Trapani’s sister, Arlene Schulte, made several attempts to track down someone related to her brother’s son. Two weeks ago, she connected with Samuel’s wife, Donna Childress, through Facebook.

Donna Childress has been helping her husband find his father for the past 23 years, she said. They only knew two things: his name and that he was a Golden Gloves boxer.

“So Sam knew – we knew he had a father – we just didn’t know where he was or if he knew,” Donna Childress said. “To meet Tony and what I’ve known of Tony so far and I know my husband, they’re one in the same – they are one in the same.”

While growing up, Samuel would ask his mother what his father looked like and she would say ‘Look in the mirror,’ he recalled.

“As a kid growing up, you wonder, you know?” Samuel said. “She’d be happy because I’ve looked for him throughout the years.”

Now that the father and son have found each other, they plan to spend as much time together as possible-- whether it’s eating some of their same favorite foods - chocolate cake and donuts - or spending time at Trapani’s cabin up north.

Samuel and Donna Childress - who have three grown children of their own - say they plan to move from their home in Williamsport, Penn. to the Grand Rapids area to be closer to their new West Michigan family.

An online fundraiser has been set up through GoFundMe.com to raise $450 for a blood test to determine paternity.

“I just want to be with him and spend as much time with him,” Samuel said. “We only have so many years left.”

Kyle Moroney covers suburban schools and general assignments for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email her at kmoroney@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter or Facebook