East Bay Women Receive Holiday Cards Years After Friend's Death

ALAMEDA (CBS 5) - One woman's thoughtful gesture has provided a touching holiday remembrance for three ladies who lost a friend to cancer.

Pam Russo was at a thrift store in Hayward earlier this year when she found five cards sealed shut with handwritten addresses but no stamps. They were tucked away on a lower back shelf.

"The handwriting was a little scribbly, so I wasn't sure if it was an elderly person," recalled Russo, who put stamps on them with a little note attached explaining who she was and where she had found the letters.

As it turns out, the cards were supposed to be sent for the holidays in 2007.

One card that Russo put a stamp on made its way to Alameda some five years after it was supposed to be sent.

"(I) opened it up and I saw Sue Bunker's name and I thought right away 'a card from an angel,'" recalled recipient Mary Ann Cates.

Sue Bunker passed away two years ago from pancreatic cancer, and the three letters were addressed to her closest friends.

"May 2007 be full of good health and good travels and occasional ice cream social," read recipient Carolyn Boones.

Without the other knowing, each woman sent a thank you note to Pam Russo for taking the time to mail Sue's holiday cards. They also shared glowing thoughts about their dear friend who got them involved in Relay for Life, a group dedicated to fighting cancer.

The four women, so touched by the journey of Sue's holiday cards, decided to meet one another and toast to their dear friend Sue and to their new friend Pam.

As they raised their glasses, all of them were certain that sue was toasting right along with them and smiling.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)