It’s not unusual for the staff of the Battleship Missouri Memorial to find long-lost items that belonged to sailors who served aboard the Mighty Mo, but the one recently discovered on the second deck near the ship post office seemed especially touching.

It was a love letter written — and lost — nearly 25 years ago.

"Hi Billy," the handwritten, three-page letter begins. "Only about two and a half weeks to go and I can’t wait much longer."

The letter, dated May 8, 1990, was found by a staffer during restoration of crew sleeping quarters in a section of the memorial that’s closed to the public. It was tucked inside a coffin locker — a personal storage area built into a sailor’s bunk.

The letter’s author, Victoria Gaudreau, wrote it in her San Diego home and mailed it to the man she would ultimately marry, William Gaudreau, who was thousands of miles away.

"I want to settle down with you," she writes, adding that she wanted to leave California for New Hampshire.

"I think I want to have a baby soon," she continues. "I want to have a spring baby. What do you think? Are you ready to be a daddy? You are going to make a great dad!"

She hopes he’ll call soon, she writes. She misses him.

"I love you very much," the letter ends. "Forever Your Girl. Vicky."

Memorial staffers have found love letters before, but they’ve never been able to locate the people who wrote or received them — until now.

Finding Victoria Gaudreau wasn’t too hard. Using Facebook, the Missouri staff was able to track her down in New Hampshire to return the letter.

How the letter remained hidden aboard the battleship-turned-memorial all this time remains a mystery, but she’s grateful to have it back, the 49-year-old Gaudreau said. Reading the letter was like a walk down memory lane, she said.

"I was very surprised, especially since it was so long ago," she said by phone from New Hampshire. "It’s been a floating museum for 10 years or so, and it was very tame, thank goodness."

That letter, which is among dozens the couple exchanged, sealed their relationship. Nearly a year later, on April 20, 1991, they were married on the bank of Lake Massabesic in Manchester, N.H.

Victoria Gaudreau and her husband, now 46 and a cryptologic technician and senior chief stationed in Hawaii, are planning a vow renewal ceremony to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary next year. The discovery of the letter inspired them to hold it aboard the old battleship, which is berthed at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.

The ceremony, which coincides with William Gaudreau’s retirement from the Navy, will be special, his wife said.

A career in the Navy meant they were often apart. They’ve missed anniversaries and birthdays. Their connection was often in the written word, in letters. And while the advent of email, texting and Skype allow for easier communication, the letters are a precious, tangible reminder of their love. They still have them, safely tucked away in a box.

No postscript on the lost letter would be complete without this: The Gaudreaus had a baby, a girl, born in Japan. She’s 23 and attending college.