The handmade card arrived a little late for Keith and Teresa Senn’s anniversary on March 2, but the message inside was worth waiting for.
An image of the card was published in an editorial in The Gazette on Thursday.
The day before, ESB Financial employee Gloria Schneider found the card in a gutter near the bank. She brought it to the newsroom to ask for help finding the children who’d gotten the card for their parents. She and her coworkers were concerned the parents would miss reading the thoughtful message inside.
The card — “from your loving children Hunter and Terra” — said, in part, “You are very dear to us and we love you very much. We would never forget u.”
Minutes after Thursday’s Gazette was delivered, a Southern Lyon County school district employee in Neosho Rapids read the editorial and solved the mystery. She called the Senns immediately.
“There’s probably not a lot of families that have Hunter and Terra in the family,” Senn remarked.
Terra, 10, told her parents about the missing card, and the Senns surmised it was lost when the family went to a meeting at the First Baptist Church, just west of ESB.
“I think it was windy that night and she must have kicked it out of the car,” Senn said. “When she realized she’d lost it, she made us a hand made one real quick.”
The lost card, and its accompanying publicity, was mildly embarrassing for 12-year-old Hunter, Senn said.
“My daughter was lappin’ it up,” he said. “She liked the attention.”
He said the card will become a keepsake for the couple, who talked later about the the incident and agreed they’d been blessed in their children.
“It kind of confirmed, you know, our kids are involved in church and have a strong belief in God, and just kind of confirmed at least we’re doing something right,” Senn said. “People tell us that the kids behave very well, very courteous and kind, and you know, yeah, yeah, but truly they are nice kids and we’re lucky to have them.”