Man finds cryptic puzzle from 1975 hidden behind wallpaper in house | Strange | News

When redesigning their own four walls, most people want perfectly plastered walls beneath the old wallpaper.

But one homeowner got more than he bargained for when he was clearing out his room to redecorate and discovered a message that was nearly 50 years old.

The message written by Eileen Walmsley in 1975 reads: “I am here, you are there, only time separates me. What does the future look like?[?] Or am I the past[?] The only answer to that is: You are my future, I am your past. Have a nice day.”

The man later contacted Eileen, who was a teenager when she wrote the message and is now in her 60s. A user provided an update, explaining how Eileen wrote the puzzle as her parents were redecorating her room.

After the couple reconnected, Eileen said she was delighted that her poem had brought a smile to someone’s face almost 50 years later. The user said: “She now calls herself Eileen Palmer and is in her 60s. The family who found the poem found her and have stayed in touch with her.” Other users commented on the post and began sharing their own stories of leaving or discovering “secret” messages in unexpected places.

One user said: “We did something like this when we wallpapered my family’s kitchen (in a way that was supposed to be revealed when they pulled it back I guess). I’d say around the same time period, maybe a little later but before the mid 80s. Well, not that similar, it was a bunch of kids being silly, although ‘how’s your flying car going?’ was just a doodle.”

Another user added: “When I was doing my A-levels in Ireland in 2005, I happened to find a cupboard with graffiti from 1992 on it, which seemed prehistoric to me at the time. I added my own date and it’s crazy how old my timeline now seems to someone else.”

A third user said: “One time, just for fun, my parents drew the outline of a dead body on the carpet they were replacing… the carpet dealers looked at us really funny.”

Another user added: “As a carpenter, one of my passions is writing weird, cryptic nonsense for future readers inside walls. I’m sure I’m not alone in this.”