81-year-old man finds letter hidden by late wife, discovers he has a son

On Sunday, 81-year-old Tony Trapani met his son for the first time.

In fact, the elderly Grand Rapids man had no idea he was a father until very recently, when he discovered a letter apparently hidden by his late wife for decades.

Trapani’s wife, Gertrude “Dolly” Trapani passed away in 2008 after 50 years of marriage.

Trapani told reporters that he started cleaning out some of Dolly’s work-related filing cabinets last February. In one cabinet, he uncovered a handwritten letter from Shirley Childress, an ex-girlfriend of his, sent in 1959.

“Dear Tony, I bet you are surprised to hear from me after so many years. I was just thinking about you tonight like so many other nights. But I thought I would write you and find out how you are,” the letter read. “Tony, please don’t be angry or surprised to hear this. I have a little boy. He is five-years-old now – grey eyes and beautiful black hair. What I am trying to say Tony is he is your son.”

“Please Tony if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, please come and see him,” Shirley continued. “Every day he asks me where is his daddy and believe me Tony I can’t even answer him anymore. I would be forever grateful to you if you would just see him. … I’ll close now hoping and praying you will answer.”

“P.S. His name is Samuel Duane.”

Despite years of trying, Trapani and his wife were unable to conceive.

“Why my wife didn’t tell me, I don’t know,” Trapani said of the hidden letter to WXMI. “She wanted children. She couldn’t have any. She tried and tried.”

“He’s my full son that I’ve had my whole life, but why my wife hid that letter is beyond me.”

Trapani shared the letter with his family, who immediately started searching for his son. Trapani’s sister, Arlene Schulte, spent more than a year trying to track down anyone connected to Samuel Childress.

Two weeks ago, Schulte found Donna Childress, Samuel’s wife, on Facebook.

On Sunday, Trapani finally met his son.

Samuel, now 61, lives in Pennsylvania and has three grown children of his own.

He grew up assuming his father received the letter but chose to have nothing to do with him. They men are now quickly trying to catch up on a lifetime without each other.

"It’s a miracle," Samuel told MLive at the long-awaited reunion. “I’m just glad now what time we have just to get to know him — that’s very important. It fills that void I’ve had over the years.”

Samuel and his wife were so thrilled with the father-son reunion that they’re now planning to move to Michigan to be closer to Trapani.

“I just want to be with him and spend as much time with him,” Samuel told MLive. “We only have so many years left.”

The family plans to have a paternity test done to confirm the old letter.