In 1951, Mary Foss Starn wrote a message on an egg.

“Whoever gets this egg, please write [to] me,” the message said. Along with the message, Starn wrote her address and name (which was just Mary Foss at the time) on the egg.

Starn worked at an egg-packing factory, putting eggs into cartons. She wrote the message knowing the egg would be sold at a grocery store. She hoped someone would find the message and write her a letter. In fact, she hoped they could write letters back and forth and become “pen pals.” It didn’t happen.

Then, in 2023, Starn’s daughter received a Facebook message about a very old and unusual egg!

Back in 1951, a man named Miller Richardson found Starn’s egg inside a carton he had bought. Richardson liked to collect things. He wrapped up the egg and put it in a box. Many years later, he gave the egg to his neighbor, John Amalfitano. For the past 20 years, Amalfitano has kept the egg inside a silver cup. In 2023, he took photos of the egg and made a Facebook post about it.

“Here’s something you don’t see every day,” Amalfitano wrote. “It’s an egg, from 1951. ([The] egg is still inside, though petrified!)” When something has petrified, it has hardened.

A family member saw Amalfitano’s post and sent a message to Starn’s daughter. Soon, Amalfitano and Starn were talking to each other on the phone. Starn, who is now 92, said she was thrilled to hear from Amalfitano.

“I’m happy to have a new friend,” she told the Washington Post. “I finally have my pen pal, and it only took 72 years.”