Don't ever give up on the U.S. Postal service—or for that matter, the Saint Anselm College Post Office. The post office received a letter last spring addressed to a student, postmarked New Haven, Conn., in 1963.

Thanks to supervisor Bob Pragoff, the letter's journey is now complete. After checking with the registrar to confirm that the addressee was indeed a student 40 years ago, he searched the Internet and located Connecticut dentist Leroy Carlini. Carlini was surprised, both at the diligence of Saint Anselm's postal detectives and the good condition of the letter. Fortunately, he says, the letter "was not pivotal." The sender was a young woman he had dated from Albertus Magnus College—but, as he assured his wife—he has no regrets.