A Texas woman recently received a postcard from a friend who passed away almost two years ago.
The pleasant surprise left Arlington’s Barbara Blevins overcome with emotion, and a little bit of laughter – not to mention some confusion, given it was dated 2006.
Speaking to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, she recalled the experience – and how she immediately knew after being handed the card that it was from her friend Jean Perry, because of a humorous snap of a naked, sunbathing woman plastered on its face.
The rib-tickling design, she told the station, was a dead giveaway – and quickly sent her into a fit of laughter that even the mailman seemed to understand.
Upon closer inspection, she saw her childhood friend had sent the card during a trip to Florida a decade-and-a-half before she died. Through strange circumstances, it only just arrived – though for Blevins, it came just in time.
The pleasant surprise left Arlington’s Barbara Blevins overcome with emotion, and little bit of laughter – not to mention some confusion
Friend Jean Perry sent the card during a trip to Florida in 2006, a decade-and-a-half before she died. Through strange circumstances, it only just arrived – though Blevins said Wednesday that for her, it arrived just in time
Upon closer inspection, she said, Blevins saw that her childhood friend had sent the card, which was dated 2006
‘How cool is that?’ Blevins said of the uplifting postage Wednesday. ‘I’m going, “2006? 17 years!” It was a shock.’
Citing her late friend’s sense of humor, she added that she was much less surprised by the entertaining picture on the card – which was accompanied with the slogan ‘Soakin’ up the sun.’
‘Naked woman laying on her belly,’ Blevins laughed while describing the prodigal postcard. ‘”Catching a few rays in Florida,” is what it says.’
The woman then took the time to remember Perry’s particular way about her – revealing how, like many friends, they had contrasting personalities.
‘We were opposites,’ Blevins said, nearly two years after losing her old neighbor.
‘She was flamboyant and not like me at all.’
Still giggling about the naked beachgoer, she added: ‘And funny. She had a good sense of humor.’
It’s that sense of humor that Blevins said she will remember, even after it left her with a jolt.
The pair – seen here together in 2009 – grew up together in Arlington since the 70s, and stayed neighbors until Perry’s death
Citing her late friend’s sense of humor, she added that she was much less surprised by the entertaining picture on the card – which was accompanied with the slogan ‘Soakin’ up the sun’
‘How cool is that?’ Blevins said of the uplifting postage Wednesday. ‘I’m going, “2006? 17 years!” It was a shock’
“The guy was giving it to me, and I went, ‘Oh!,’ Bevins told NBC’s Vince Sims of the brief surprise she felt when accepting the card, which reportedly got held up for years after it was sent to a different house on her street.
‘He said, “Don’t worry about it – she had a sense of humor, didn’t she?,’ she further recalled, all smiles as she remembered her friend.
‘And I said, “She did.”‘
Distraught – but full of joy – she recalled how she met Parry, back in the 70s as neighbors and family friends.
‘You know how families connect through kids,’ she told the station, laughing with tears in her eyes. ‘That’s how we connected, and we just became friends.’
As the pair grew up, they grew inseparable and eventually the best of friends, staying neighbors for the better part of a half-century.
Sadly, that friendship came to a close nearly two years ago when Perry passed, on occurrence that Blevins said had pained her to this day.
“The guy was giving it to me, and I went, ‘Oh!,’ Bevins told NBC’s Vince Sims of the brief surprise she felt when accepting the card, which reportedly got held up for years after it was sent to a different house on her street
‘He said, “Don’t worry about it – she had a sense of humor, didn’t she?,’ she further recalled, all smiles as she remembered her friend. ‘And I said, “She did”. Perry (seen here) was Blevins’ neighbor for about 50 years
With the recent, well-traveled token, she said her memory now lives on, and proceeded to thank her old friend for warming her heart all these years later
She recalled how she still sees her friend’s house almost daily: ‘I drive by there, and I go, “I don’t believe you’re gone,”
‘I just don’t,’ she continued, clearly emotional over the loss. ‘It’s hard to believe it.’
But with the recent, well-traveled token, she said her memory now lives on, and proceeded to thank her old friend for warming her heart all these years later.
‘I kind of feel that way,’ Blevins said of the posthumous post. ‘Like a “hang-in-there type of message – everything-is-going-to-be-good type of message.
‘That’s what she would say.’
Laughing heartily at times, she said she hopes the uplifting story – more than a decade in the making – brings hope to others who may have recently lost their loved ones.
Citing larger-than-life forces and fate, she said: “They’re out there – blessings will come your way.
‘I feel like I got one, you know.
She then laughed again about the cheeky design: ‘Even though when I look at it, I go, “Oh Jean!”‘
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
