SANDPOINT — A postcard that has traveled through many decades and states has finally made its way home to its original owner after being lost in the mail for 72 years.  

The vintage postcard was returned to its sender, Alan Ball, 88, on Wednesday morning at his home and hand-delivered by a local mail carrier who was eager to assist in the reuniting of Ball and his lost mail.  

Both were smiling as Ball received the letter, standing alongside his college sweetheart, Jeanie Ball.  

Sitting on the back porch overlooking his carefully landscaped lawn, Ball recalled his memories of the postcard that was intended for his parents to receive during the early summer of 1953.  

Ball shared that he stayed at his aunt’s house in Puerto Rico, saying that his summer residence was dependent on him getting there.  

“I was just a teenager. I had saved up my money for a couple of years, shoveling snow and mowing grass," said Ball. “She (his aunt) said ‘if you can find a way down here, you can stay for the whole summer,’ so I saved my pennies and made the big trip. It was quite a change from the Midwest.”  

Embarking on the journey from Ottawa, Ill., Ball said he first took a train to New York before flying to Puerto Rico.  

Several hours before his flight departed, Ball recalled going to the United Nations building, where he bought a postcard that would never make it to its original recipient — his father in Ottawa.  

“So, I sent it, and never heard another thing, because they didn’t get it,” said Ball. “In the meantime, this (postcard) is lost somewhere in the U.N. And, oh my gosh, just several days ago they found it.”  

The missing postcard was shipped to Ottawa last month after being found in the United Nations building.  

“They didn’t know what to do with it,” Ball said.  

“You know, they thought he was dead,” Jeanie Ball said as the couple shared a laugh. 

According to Shaw Local reporter Tom Collins, the Ottawa Post Office had never seen a piece of mail appear decades later. Collins reported that Ottawa Postmaster Mark Thompson took several days to determine who the sender, ‘Alan,’ was.  

Through local genealogists, Thompson and Collins were able to identify and locate Ball, now living near Sandpoint — his family's home for over 30 years.  

A phone call between Collins and Ball confirmed that the letter was in fact the one Ball had intended to send his father 72 years ago. 

“I think I just laughed,” said Ball when recalling what he felt when he first heard about the letter.   

Since the postcard was originally sent out, Ball has, and continues, to live a full life filled with community, music and greenery.  

Ball would go on to graduate from Ottawa High School in 1954, where he then earned his undergraduate at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and met his wife, Jeanie.  

Following his medical degree from University of Iowa, Ball quickly discovered his love of emergency medicine, noting his enjoyment of “never knowing what’s coming in the door.”  

Ball has been an active member in the Sandpoint community, serving the area as an ER doctor at Bonner General Health before his retirement 25 years ago. 

“It’s kind of an artsy community, kind of a vacation spot,” Ball told Shaw Local. “Never regretted that move, I’ll tell you.” 

Now, Ball enjoys landscaping and executing his musical talents, remaining active in everyday activities and community events.  

"Let people know I’m not dead,” said Ball while he and his wife shared another laugh. “Surprise the people in Ottawa that I’m strong.” 

    “We are now in the U.N. bldg. — extremely modern throughout. Received your telegram on train and think all will be O.K. Haven’t gotten ticket yet but we’ll see about it pretty soon. Our temporary headquarters here in N.Y. are with Betsy’s uncle. Will write next from P.R. Love to all, Alan,” read the letter.