You never know what you'll find in an old house – from secret windows in a floor to hidden holes in the backyard – the possibilities are endless.
Lubbock, TX newlyweds Andy and Jessica Green were amazed by the hidden treasure that they found in their very own attic after moving into their previously owned home.
They noticed a problem with the dryer, so Jessica asked Andy to clear out the dryer vent. Andy went up into the attic to do so when he stumbled across a dirty old pillowcase half-hidden in the crawl space. At first he thought it must have been trash, but when he looked inside, he was amazed by what he saw.
As his wife tells their local news station, KCBD, "I heard him stomp down the ladder, and he said, 'Come in here, I think I found something really cool.' So I went out into the garage and he had this old pillowcase, and it had stuff in it. We dumped it out on the garage floor and it was just hundreds and hundreds of these old, old letters."
These weren't just any letters though. The pillowcase held hundreds and hundreds of love letters written by the house's previous owners during World War II.
Dale Simpson was a chief petty officer in the Navy who wrote consistently wrote all of these emotional letters to his beloved Virginia Sims between 1942-1943. The letters stopped for two years before picking up again in 1945, when they were then addressed to Mrs. Virginia Simpson, that is. It sounds like all of those love letters worked.
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H/T: KCBD Lubbock
Andy and Jessica Green had barely been living in their new house for a few months when they discovered the mysterious pillowcase in the attic.
The former owners, the Simpsons, hadn't lived in the house since around 1995. The pillowcase and letters must have sat there untouched for almost 20 years.
It took Andy and Jessica just a few seconds to realize that these were the letters of a soldier. Jessica told reporters, "[The letters] have every emotion you can think of. A young boy going off to boot camp during WWII—being proud, and then being scared."
Some of the letters even included pictures of the handsome couple.
The couple didn't correspond between 1943-1945. Andy and Jessica knew they got married in this time, but there was still a chapter of the story missing.
Andy was able to empathize with the sorrowful feelings Dale felt while at war. He said, "In a similar way, I feel just as lost without Jessica as Mr. Simpson seemed to be without Virginia."
Dale expressed his desire to marry his sweetheart in several letters.
"But the biggest thrill of my life was what happend to us Saturday. I was so excited. I'm afraid I was rude to everyone. I know I was to your mother. I'd appreciate it if you would apologize to her for me.
I guess you know you have gotten prettier. Boy were the fellows impressed. All that saw you later told me how good looking they thought you are. They told me I was very lucky to have a girl friend (sweetheart) like you—as if I didn't know.
If it's okay with you, I'm going to begin saving for an engagement ring. I don't know when and if we will be able to complete our plans, but we can begin them, if you think it's okay.
Well, they are going to turn the lights out at nine o'clock so I'll write again tomorrow night.
I love you.
Love and Kisses,
Dale"
The letters expressed how passionately Dale felt about his "sweetheart."
"My Dear Sweetheart,
It's eight o'clock tonight and I'm blue and lonely and I find myself thinking of you. I know just a few minutes ago, I caught myself dreaming away about you. I was wishing that I could have stayed in El Paso over Sunday and we could have gotten married. Those few minutes I got to spend there made me realize how much I love. You're so sweet…"
Clearly, Virginia was all that Dale could think of while he was away.
"Place your lips right there, and you will have received a kiss from me."
The couple married in 1943 before Dale returned from war.
The beautiful couple stayed married for over 50 years. Sadly, Virginia passed away in 1995 and Dale passed away in 1997.
Andy and Jessica were able to use Google and mutual friends to find Dale and Virginia's children. They promised that the letters will end up back in the family.
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