Couple finds letter to Santa from 1956 while ripping out cabinets during renovation
A US couple has made a remarkable discovery during home renovations, finding a letter to Santa dating back more than 60 years.
Michael Nahodil and his partner Alyssa Backes found the festive note after the landlord of their Pennsylvania tattoo parlour gave them an unexpected ultimatum, telling the pair to either move out or buy the unit.
Not wanting to uproot their business, the couple purchased the plot that came with an adjoining apartment and decided to move in once they'd renovated the flat.
“We came up here and it was absolutely awful. Everything in every room needed to be replaced,” Backes told WNEP.
As they tackled the kitchen and began removing cabinets, an envelope bearing a picture of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer dropped down.
"Everyone hopes they find money in the wall, but I think this was a little more special," Nahodil said.
Inside was a letter dated December 2, 1956 and was a note to Santa from Susan Kleis revealing what gifts she would like after being on her best behaviour in the past year.
“Dear Santa, How are you? I’ve been a good girl," the letter started. Among the presents she wished for were a learners bike, several horses and a dollhouse.
The couple took to social media to try and track down the family of the young girl, and after initially failing to find them, her son stumbled across Nahodil's Facebook post on December 2 - exactly 61 years since the letter was writtten.
Fellow Shamokin resident John Krieger couldn't believe his eyes when he realised it was a note from his mother, now in her 60s and living in Massachusetts.
He contacted the couple immediately, delighted they hadn't discarded it with the masses of waste ripped out from their new home.
“I mean, they got a lot going on here. They could have just swept it up (and) not ever looked at it,” Krieger said.
He revealed the note was in fact written by his deceased grandmother and would be a fantastic Christmas gift for his mother despite never receiving those horses she dreamed of all those years ago.
