This dad received a Father’s Day card from his estranged gay son 20 years after he died
This father has told the bittersweet story of how he received a Father’s Day card from his estranged gay son, more than 20 years after he died of AIDS-related illness.
Back in 2015, Duane Schrock, who lived in Lynchburg, Virginia, told the heartbreaking story of how he got the surprise of his life when he received a card from his late son, Duane Schrock Jr.
The pair had fallen out over Schrock Jr’s sexual orientation in the 1980s – but in 1989, Schrock Jr had decided to send a Father’s Day card to his estranged dad.
The letter was lost, sadly, in the US postal system, and never made it to his father’s letter box.
Six years later, Schrock Jr died of AIDS-related illness.
RELATED: The greatest LGBT love letters of all time
As Schrock Sr. had moved home several times, the card spent over two decades lost in the postal service, before it finally made its way to him just a few days after Father’s Day 2015.
It reads: “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.”
The 87-year-old told ABC: “It was sure welcome, and it restores faith in the mail service.
“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.”
Check out a video of Shrock Sr talking about the letter below:
NEXT:This love letter tells the bittersweet tale of two soldiers who fell in love during World War Two.
Another man wrote a letter of apology, addressed to a gay couple he bullied in 1993.
And this letter from a father to a son, speaking of acceptance, went viral in recent years due to its strong message of unconditional love.
