Birthday card exchanged for 30 years by dad and daughters gets lost in the post

Claire Fuller sent her father a birthday card in 1984. Featuring a sad duck contemplating its reflection and ‘Happy Birthday’ printed inside in a jaunty ’80s font, it’s the kind of card most of us would have kept in a drawer for a few years then thrown out when we were having a tidy up.

But in 1985, Stephen Fuller added a birthday message of his own and sent it back to his daughter for her 18th birthday.

Since then, the two have been exchanging the same card every birthday with their messages getting smaller and more cramped each year.

But now the precious card has got lost in the post and author Claire has launched a desperate appeal to find it.

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She Tweeted: ‘My Dad & I have been exchanging this birthday card since 1984. This February it got lost in the post. If you find it send it home to me.

The appeal has now been retweeted 7,500 times, with other Twitter users quick to offer advice like visiting her local sorting office.

“I sent it back the next year and we just carried on,” she told the BBC.

“It’s very flimsy – we squeeze in messages every year – but round the duck it’s getting tighter and tighter with the writing getting smaller and smaller. We both feel so sad it’s gone missing.”

Stephen, 78, posted the card on February 10th this year, but there’s been no sign of it since then.

A Royal Mail spokesman said, “Every item of mail is important to us. We appreciate the sentimental value of this card and are seeing if we can trace it.”

Fingers crossed.