The card is simple and kind of funny.
On the outside it reads, "Happy Anniversary to a charming, fun, loving, attractive, clever and fun-to-be-with couple."
The punchline on the inside, "Save this card, you can send it to us on our anniversary."
Rather than chuckle and put the card away, Gardnerville Ranchos residents David and Kay Lacey and their former Bay area neighbors Lee and Barbara Subke took the card literally.
So in 1979, when the Laceys first sent the card to the Subkes, it might have been a surprise.
"For almost 30 years, my wife and I and another couple have been sending back and forth an anniversary card, the same card and envelope," David Lacey said.
The Laceys have been married for 62 years and met the Subkes in 1957 when they moved to San Francisco.
"They were one of the first couples we met at church," David Lacey said. "We've been friends every since."
Both couples moved to Arizona, on opposite sides of Phoenix, which increased the distance, but did not prevent them from sending the card back and forth.
Over the years, they stapled additional pages to the card and wrote notes on the envelope.
Kay Lacey said that one year Barbara Subke called her and said she'd lost the card.
"It was such a tragedy," she said. "But she called back a few weeks later and said she'd found it. She put it in the same drawer, which is what I do to, and it got stuck in the back until her husband really looked for it."
The Laceys celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary on Jan. 11 and have lived in the Valley for four years, and received the card back.
They'll be sending the card back to the Subkes in time for their anniversary on June 22.
