MAN FINDS 6 DECADES OLD ENVELOPE WHILE REPAIRING AN ARIZONIAN RANCH WHOSE CONTENTS LEAVE HIM AGHAST

 

People are always fascinated by long lost things especially when they stumble upon it accidentally while doing the most mundane jobs of their lives. A similar incident happened when a renovator John Murray was renovating an age-old house of the 1950s and came across something which changed his perspective forever. What did he find that made him think about his life differently and left a deep impact shattering his misconceptions?

Another Usual day

It was the summer of 2014, John Murray had just finished renovating a house when he received a call from his manager. He had been in this business for a while now and was used to the last-minute calls. But this surely seemed urgent as it was the fourth call of his manager. He frowned at the phone screen as he saw the missed calls. What was so urgent that the manager was constantly calling him?

The Arizona Project

He hurriedly called him back to see what had happened. As he suspected he had been allotted one more project but that was now in Arizona. It was a five hours journey from where he was now and he was so tired to go still he had to because it was the only thing that helped pay his bills. It had been a while now that he had lost interest in his work and had decided to leave it.

The Journey

He had been feeling quite distant and found his work quite monotonous. He half-heartedly boarded on the train to Arizona and thought of other jobs that he could take after leaving this job. He rested his head against the windowpane and thought of the time when he and his wife were together and everything was perfect.

HighSchool Sweethearts

It was almost a year since he and his wife had separated. They were high school sweethearts and got married as soon as the school had ended. Though everyone warned them not to take such important decisions in a hurry, they didn’t listen to anyone because they were in love. She was the one who made him wake up every day to a new start and he wanted to start his day looking at her face only.

Differences

Straight out of high school they were just kids when John started working. It wasn’t easy for them in this world to survive but they had to so to save their love and marriage. Soon they started having arguments and even they were not aware when these arguments went on to become big fights. And shortly after that, they had stopped talking to each other despite being under the same roof.

Harsh Decisions

It was not long before they decided to part their ways when their relationship became a victim of misunderstanding. And still, when it had been one year he couldn’t get over with what had happened so he thought of leaving the place and starting afresh might help him to get the closure over the things. With this thought in mind, he set off for the journey without having a clue what awaited him.

The Meeting

He reached the destined place in Arizona, where the manager was already waiting for him. The manager then told him about the place that they had to renovate and advised him to start working on it as soon as possible. The owner of the house had just bought the place and for the owner, it was not less than a steal deal so he wanted to renovate the house immediately and start living in it.

Planning

He thought of telling his manager that he would be leaving the job the moment he had come but something inside him stopped him from saying a word. He quietly listened to the instructions and made a mind map about how would he proceed with his work. And as soon as his manager finished telling him, he joined his other fellows in the work. So, would it be his last project or would he continue?

Nostalgia

As he entered the house, he felt a sense of nostalgia. He and his wife had once planned to buy a ranch when they would have enough money to give their kids the environment in which they could grow carefree and away from the hustle-bustle of the town. Every thought seemed to be coming back to him but somehow he managed to control his emotions and started to work.

A Beautiful House

It was indeed a very beautiful house as if every brick was individually chosen and put together by the owners themselves. He entered the bedroom he had to renovate while trying not to stumble upon as he was in awe of the story that the aura of the room was telling. He sighed heavily and wondered if that was his house.

Several Questions

He was inquisitive about the house and came to know that this was made in 1950 when a couple moved in with their kids and resided in it for a very long time. But then the owner left the house and possibly the city too. John had a lot of questions going into his mind but the big one was why did the family suddenly leave?

Renovation Starts

But keeping aside all the questions he thought of starting the work and finishing it in no time so as to leave for his own ventures because he had a long way to go. He just set out to work and while he was knocking down the wall in the bedroom, an envelope flew from the back of the picture that was hanging on the wall.

An Interruption

The envelope was scrambled and extremely worn out. It was slightish brown in color and the texture seemed to be quite age-old indicating that it had been years since it was written. But he didn’t pick up and didn’t even try to see what was written inside because he was busy making other plans which he would be executing as soon as he finishes the work.

Scrambled Paper Or Valuable Asset

Initially, he overlooked it thinking that it was some sort of waste but something made him coming back to the envelope as he tried to focus more on the wall and finishing his work. When he investigated further he found them unusual and later in his statement he said to the press, “It was on the floor over there with a pile of insulation. We’ve done hundreds of houses but never found anything like this.”

Tempted About The Letters

He thought he wouldn’t open the envelope as it might contain certain personal information of the owner. But on the other hand, he was desperate to open it to know what it withholds. However, he tried to control his temptation and just read the name and started thinking about what to do with his findings. Would he be able to find out the truth?

Searching For The Clues

The name written in the letter was Betty Klug and nothing else was mentioned on the envelope. There was no mention of the time or date on which it was written and to whom. He couldn’t find a single clue to know about the owner. As he had already promised himself that he would maintain the secrecy of the envelope hence he restrained himself from opening the envelope. Would he be able to resist his temptations or else would open it?

Reaching The Writer

He wanted to reach the lady to give her back the envelope and tried to find some address so he flipped the letter once more. When he found no clue, he tried to find other ways through which he could find the owner and sat on the stairs still thinking about the same. Would he be able to find Betty or else would he just leave the letter?

Deviations

But there was something about the envelope that he was gravitated back to it and couldn’t leave it there so he thought of the ways in which he could contact the owner. He then called out his teammates to inform them about his findings, thinking they might have a clue about the envelope. He even thought that the envelope might be of some teammate who had accidentally put it there. But there was no one named Betty Klug in his team. Then who was Betty Klug?

Searching The Lady

His curiosity was increasing with every passing day, all he could think about was to how to find Betty. He inquired in the neighbor too in the hope of finding some clue but not even one clue about the lady could be found. He tried to search her on the internet in a hope to find something about her but failed. This was so disappointing for John but nothing could deter his determination. Would he be able to track down the writer?

Disappointments

When he had exhausted all his resources and still couldn’t trace her, he turned towards his teammates. After a lot of discussions, they suggested him to reach out to the news channels because this seemed to be the only way out to find the owner. So they searched for the number of the various news channels and finally, KPNX 12 News came forward to help them out.

Resources

The news channel took a great interest in the same and started searching for Betty using all their resources. When several days passed and John didn’t hear about any news from the channel regarding the envelope, he thought he would never be able to find the legitimate owner of the letters and this disappointed him a bit.

One Fine Morning

Then one fine morning when he was on the verge to finish his work he got a call from the news channel. He crossed his fingers and prayed it to be some good news because it had been days since he last contacted the news channel. He nervously picked up the phone and had a sigh of relief when he heard that they found some trace of the family.

The News

He was delighted to hear about the news that they had found Betty’s husband Bruce and he was in great health. Unfortunately, the writer of the letters had passed away in a tragic car accident even before she could tell about the letters. This revelation saddened John and his team a bit. But now they had one major task in front of them which was how to break the news to Bruce. Would Bruce be able to believe the story?

The Phone Call

So after a lot of speculations and apprehensions, the news channel finally contacted Klug’s family. They didn’t have any expectations that they would entertain any such news but the response made them quite positive. Bruce, who was now 79 years old, was living in a nursery and was overwhelmed by the revelation of the letters. He found it difficult to withhold his emotions as he heard about the letters that his beloved wife had left. He was now eager to meet John and the team.

The Interview

The channel along with John arranged an interview and reached the nursery he was residing. When they got there, Bruce was overjoyed to see them and greeted them with a bright smile but he couldn’t hide the tears which were constantly rolling down his cheeks. John too, who had discarded the existence of true love became emotional.

The Alliance

As the team sat for the interview and Bruce started to recall their marriage. He said it was the best alliance ever. They had never fought or argued on anything before. Even if they had a little argument it would not even last till the next morning. They were head over heels in love with each other and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together but fate wanted something else.

An Unforgettable Event

At the age of 43, an unfortunate event took place when Betty met with a fatal car accident which resulted in the loss of her life. It was devasting for Bruce who was 41 when betty died and it took him several years to get over it. But he tried to be strong to support his kids and family. It had been years since then still the bruises were unhealed.

Coping With The Loss

It was so difficult for him to cope with the loss of his wife that even after moving out of the city he couldn’t get over with what he had lost. “I don’t know how I did it,” he had said to John who was thinking about his relationship with his wife and where they went wrong. The love could be still seen in Bruce’s eyes as fresh as before.

A Time Capsule!

So when John and the news team handed him the envelope, he was expecting it to be some love letters that she might have written for his upcoming birthday before she left him in the agony of her death. He knew Betty was always fond of writing so he expectantly opened the letter but the content of the letter startled him. They were not just an ordinary bunch of papers but a time capsule that she had written to the future generation when she was 33 years old.

Reading It Loud

“The Vietnam War is still going on,” he read out loud in Betty’s familiar handwriting. “Racial situation very serious. Boys have long hair resulting from the Beatle craze,” some of the letters inside read, reflecting upon her interest in politics and pop culture. She used to be enthusiastic about what was happening globally and took a keen interest in every decision that the government was taking.

Perspectives

Betty’s letter described how the political parties were acting during the unrest that was happening globally. She wasn’t just a woman who would confide herself with the household chores but actively took part in the debates about the war putting a strong viewpoint. She had a traditional perspective and thought that a Republican president would be able to bring peace than a democrat.

Massive Changes

A lot of things happened around that time when Betty wrote those letters to the future generation. A cold war was going on, Cuba was facing challenges and Americans were in constant fear that the Nuclear bomb might explode anytime. Racial segregation was widespread around the Country. The people feared that they might have to leave anytime if this continued.

Equality Of Rights

Previously the state of Virginia had forbidden interracial marriages, let alone same-sex marriages. But in 1967, the US Supreme Court took a landmark decision and struck down all state laws banishing interracial marriages as it seemed as breeching of Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. After this decision, the state saw a lot of interracial marriages.

The Chicago Campaign

In 1966, after abolishing interracial marriages the civil rights movement gained popularity and people started to fight for equality. Even though Martin Luther King Jr. was advocating nonviolent civil disobedience, uproar and violence still prevailed. His motive was to remove the slums peacefully but people’s outburst was increasing day by day.

The Turmoil

The time the letter was written was when the Vietnam war was going on and Betty was concerned about the same and mentioned the war in her letter. Despite the protest by the people of America who were against their involvement in the war still, they were dragged in it even without their will. Betty had 2 sons at the time of war and she was in constant fear that any day they would be posted in the Vietnam war.

The Letter

The letter continued: “Barry Goldwater (Republican candidate for president) lives on top of the hill, with the big T.V. antenna (N.W. bedroom view.). We are sure truth and love will prevail and the constitution will remain. We are hopeful that the Republicans will be in office when this time capsule is recovered.”Contrary to what she thought, the time at which the time capsule was found, a democrat Barak Obama was ruling the country but things were better and development was at the peak.

The Democrat

Several things were happening in and around that time that was enough to distraught the peace. This was the time Lyndon B. Johnson had taken over the presidency after the assassination of  John F. Kennedy. And it was after the newly elected president that the condition worsened and at last turned into war.

Political Unrest

Many people thought that it was because of the Democrat that the country was suffering from the unrest. As the war possibilities increased more and more people were convinced that it was due to the democratic system and had an opinion that if there would have been still the republican the war situation might not have arisen in the first place.

Relation With Other Countries

While the Cold war was going on tension increased where the capitalist Western Bloc was dominating and USSR was still powerful. The United Nations’ stance against communism led to tensions in Cuba. The country was so apprehensive that the Western Bloc might attack that its dictator  Fidel Castro declared emergency in the country.

A Better Future

Betty had probably written those letters in the hope that the future generation that would be reading it, has a bright and safe future, free from violence and inequality. A future where anyone regardless of their race can marry any woman and vice-versa.Where there is equality of rights in everything. Would her thoughts materialize in the near future?

The Beatles Fever

Amidst of all havoc, the Beatles tour in 1966 brought a new zest in people. People were crazy about the band and many men copied their hairstyle letting their hair grow like the band members to resemble their ideals. Betty too mentioned the same in her letter and expressed her fondness towards the band. Beatlemania had gained a hype during that time and everybody was in awe of the band.

Separation

On 29 August 1966, they staged their final commercial tour before the band dissolved. They staged 19 performances, with 17 shows in certain American venues and while 2 in Canada. The whole distress started when John Lennon gave a controversial remark saying the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”.Because of this, they faced a lot of criticism and death threats too.

Reliving The Past

He was stirred when he read those letters by his wife and it seemed to as if he was reliving the time with his wife. These letters too contained numerous incidences of their togetherness.No matter how many years might have passed his love for his wife hadn’t changed a bit and was increasing with every other day and hour. 

Unforeseen Event

Betty, neither could witness the consequences of the Vietnam war nor the disastrous separation of the Beatles but her letters were surely heritage for her family especially her future generation. It gave them an insight into how things were back then and still they used to find a way to find a ray of hope and happiness even if that was associated with a band.

Emotional Moment

Bruce couldn’t control his emotions as he read the letter aloud and John could sense that even after years of his wife’s death he was still in love with her. He then handed those letters to the family as memento of their deceased family member. John, who had lost the hope that true love ever existed this incident however restored hope about the same.

Happy Ending?

Both John and Bruce had something to look forward to in their lives. Bruce got a new motive to live as these letters gave him the zeal to live his life in which he was slowly losing interest. On the other hand, John too had developed a more positive approach than before which restored the zest to live their lives to the fullest and opening up to the idea of falling in love again if fate ever gave him another chance.