By Jolene FarleyTuff Memorial Home resident Grace Walters, 97, was excited when she received a letter in the mail with an unfamiliar name and return address. That letter meant someone had found the balloon she let loose Wednesday, May 12, during National Nursing Home Week at Tuff Memorial Home. "I sure was surprised," Walters said. "I thought, ‘Who could be writing me with that address?’"More than 50 balloons, one for each Tuff resident, were let loose with the help of student volunteers from the Hills Christian School. So far, Walters is the only one to receive a reply. Her letter, signed Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Lund and Jodi, was from Fairfax, a town about 120 miles northeast of Hills. Dennis Lund found the deflated, shredded balloon while mowing his lawn on Friday, May 14. A laminated note with Walter’s name and address that detailed why the balloons were released was intact. The note, written by Tuff Activity Director Lou Kellenberger, invited anyone who found a balloon or note to write. "I just tell them, ‘If you find this, we’d like to hear from you,’" Kellenberger said. In their reply, the Lunds wrote about enjoying bird watching and gardening. They also wrote about the cold weather in their area. Walters hopes the Lunds will keep writing back and forth with her. They have been invited to visit if they are ever in the area.Tuff Memorial Home residents have released balloons each year for the last five or six years and received responses twice before. One balloon made it intact to Wisconsin and another to Iowa. Walters plans to release another balloon next year. "We did one and succeeded," she said. "It could happen again."