YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — It’s always nice to receive a birthday card, but an Ohio woman got an especially meaningful greeting -- five years later.
Katrina Jones, of Youngstown, received a long-lost birthday card on Thursday from her mother, who passed away in 2018. The envelope containing the card was postmarked June 20, 2015, WKBN reported.
“It took 5 1/2 years for me to receive a birthday card and note from my mother,” Jones wrote on her LinkedIn page. “The message was right on time.”
Jones said she was surprised when the card arrived in her mailbox.
“To what do I owe this honor?” Jones asked.
Jones said she was surprised when she recognized the return address and the penmanship on the card.
“The return address is from my mother. Then I looked at the handwriting and I said, ‘That’s my mother’s handwriting,’” Jones told WKBN. “My mother passed away in 2018.”
There was a note inside the birthday card, quoting a Bible verse from Jeremiah 29:11: “I know the thoughts I have towards you sayeth the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil.”
“I do remember many years ago and I think I’m safe to say it must have been 2015 and I remember her asking, ‘Hey, did you get a card from me?’” Jones told WKBN.
Jones said she and her mother eventually forgot about the card. Now, the message has more meaning.
“Someone told me at work it wasn’t meant for you to receive back then,” Jones told WBKN. “It was meant for me to receive now.”