Jessica Means' stop at her mailbox started out as another unremarkable visit when she pulled out the mail carrier’s daily delivery. But there was something that shook her from the ordinary: a postcard of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris from 1969.
But there was something that shook her from the ordinary: a postcard of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.Means, 46, flipped it over. It was addressed to a Mr. and Mrs. Rene A. Gagnon. At first, she figured the mail carrier had delivered it to the wrong house. But then she noticed the address was correct. Looking closer, she saw an original postmark dated March 15, 1969, and a far more recent one from seven days earlier out of Tallahassee.
Rene Gagnon was born in 1905 in Quebec, according to his 1988 obituary in the Evening Express. He immigrated to the United States as a young man, marrying Rose Koski in 1929. Thirteen years later, the couple moved to Portland. After a long illness, he died in 1988 at the age of 82. Rose lived for 14 more years,Both of their obituaries listed their surviving relatives, including one of their two daughters: Doris. According to those obituaries, Doris was married to a man named Roy Salzman.
. Born in 1933, Salzman graduated salutatorian of his high school class, attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served in the Air Force. In 1959, he left the military and became a consultant. He and Doris traveled the world for his work, venturing to Brazil, Mexico and Belgium before moving back to the United States in 1988.
Means also noticed that someone had added to the list of recipients. Under “Mr. + Mrs Rene A. Gagnon,” which had been written in the ballpoint ink, just like Roy’s message, an anonymous writer had added “or current resident” in all caps.
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