The Father’s Day card that arrived in Duane Schrock Sr.’s mailbox was otherwise simple.

“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.”

But for Schrock, 89, a Virginia resident, the card was a bittersweet voice from the past. His son, also named Duane, died of AIDS in 1995. Duane sent the card in 1989, years before his death, but it took 26 years for it to make its way to Schrock through the Postal Service.

The card meant all the more to Schrock because he had a tumultuous relationship with his son, since he disapproved of Duane’s homosexuality.

“I still kind of tear up when I think about it,” Schrock told ABC.

The card, though late, has renewed Schrock’s “faith in the mail service.”

“It’s like a sign from heaven,” Schrock said.

[ABC]

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Write to Tanya Basu at tanya.basu@time.com.