Becoming old enough to drive is a milestone most teenagers dream about.
So when Jada Duke turned 16, her dad, Kevin, decided to give her the perfect gift: her very own car.
He picked out a car he thought would be a good match for his daughter. And because Jada’s birthday was still a few weeks away, Kevin decided to look the car over for flaws and fix them so the car would be so safe as possible for her.
But while doing so, he made a special discovery.
Kevin Duke drove the car around and looked in every nook and cranny. Or so he thought.
Because one day while he was fishing around in the glove compartment, Kevin found something he had previously missed.
“Well, yesterday I’m in it tinkering around and I open this storage compartment on top of the dash (which I’ve opened a half dozen times already). This time I notice a rubber mat in the bottom of it and for whatever reason, I pull it out. To my surprise, I find this envelope with this letter inside. I won’t lie, I shed a few tears,” Kevin Duke wrote on Facebook.
Someone had written a handwritten note on the envelope. It said:
“New car owner
Important info
Inside”
Kevin was surprised. How could he have missed this?
Since the letter was clearly addressed to the new car owner, he tore it open with great anticipation… But he never could have imagined what it would say.
The letter was long and contained a tragic story.
The previous owner was the writer’s mother. But the letter writer had recently lost her, and her aunt and six-year-old daughter, in a large fire.
Because of the high cost of their funerals, the writer had been forced to sell her mother’s beloved car, which had also been the writer’s most treasured memento of her mother.
She hoped the new owner would cherish the car and that it would bring many happy memories.
The letter ends with the woman explaining that the car’s name is Sylvia—a name that the letter writer’s deceased daughter had suggested before she died.
“So please don’t change her name. If you ever want to sell Sylvia, please try to find me. I ust paid for three funerals. I can’t afford to buy it right now, but hopefully I’ll be in a better financial situation if you decide later that she’s just not right for you any longer. Be blessed, be happy, live and love like we did. I wish you, and Sylvia, the best!”
Kevin got a lump in his throat and the tears began to flow.
He just couldn’t let this poor woman lose such a strong memento of the close relatives she had lost. He posted the letter on Facebook hoping to find the letter writer.
And, miraculously, he managed to find her!
Now, Kevin has started a fund on YouCaring to raise money for a new car for his daughter Jada—so the car can go back where it belongs…
To the letter writer.
Please share this story and help the car get back to its rightful owner!
