A Christmas card exchange that started out as a joke back in the early 1960s has become a Christmas tradition for two best friends from New Brunswick.
When Gary Gallant, of Saint John, first shipped a simple Moncton High School Christmas card to his high school buddy Lee back in the early 1960s, he never expected that the message inside, like their friendship, would stand the test of time.
“It was just a Christmas card, big deal,” Gallant said, but then the next year, the card unexpectedly arrived back in his mailbox the following Christmas.
“I crossed my name off of it, I put his name and I shipped it back. It was just as a joke, you know, and that started it and then he said, ‘I’ll fix you,'” said Lee VanBuskirk of Moncton, who said his friend of well over 65 years sent the card back the following Christmas.
Gallant said the exchange started as a battle of wits, but turned into a 62-year treasured tradition.
The two pals, now 78-years-old, are still swapping that same Christmas card back and forth more than six decades later.
The card is now a little yellowed and worn out by time.
“So are we,” joked Gallant, who said they mailed the card for decades until they got too nervous to send it in the post.
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“It got to 30 years and we thought this is getting dangerous here, we got a lot invested in this thing,” VanBuskirk said.
So now, he said, the pair hand-delivers the card because inside are penned dates carrying a lifetime of memories.
“He is a real friend. You can depend on him for anything,” VanBuskirk said.
They’ve supported each other through some hard times, too, including two open heart surgeries and as Gallant develops the early stages of dementia, the card and the memories it holds are becoming more and more precious, VanBuskirk said.
“To me, he will always be Gary no matter what happens to him.”
No matter what, he said, “that card will be going.”
They hope their long-lasting friendship sees many more card swaps and happy Christmases.
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