A Christmas Quirk? Or Quantum Prank?

This is the Christmas card my parents sent out circa 1960-1961. As far as any of us kids remember, this was the only time they sent one out that included a picture. 

Signed: "Shirley, Steve and the children

There’s nothing really remarkable about the card, even though the photo was taken in front of a neighbor’s fireplace because mom felt our fireplace wasn’t quite good enough and theirs was much better. Otherwise, it is a standard photo card of the day. 

Except there's one other tiny thing.

We grew up in the small town of Lafayette, California. It was a San Francisco bedroom community, but back then it was my entire world. I wasn't aware of much beyond the Bay Area. And that was fine when I was little.  

Jump forward 20 years: I enlisted in the US Air Force, was trained as a Russian Linguist, and shipped overseas to West Berlin. 

While stationed there I met this guy, Rex Bowman, also in the Air Force. Rex was from Roanoke, Virginia. 

Roanoke? Never heard of it. It was 3,000 miles from Lafayette, on the other side of the country. It could have been on Pluto for all I knew. But it didn't matter, Rex was smart, fun, and I loved him even though he played pranks on me. He'd hide my hairbrush, or pretend he forgot his wallet at restaurants. Goofy stuff like that. 

We got married in 1982, both eventually left the military, moved around, had kids, then happily settled in Rex’s hometown. Roanoke, VA.

Mom passed away in 2000 and I flew back to the west coast to help my sister, Pamela, go through mom's things and choose items with sentimental value. The Christmas card was tucked away among some paperwork. Pamela did not seem interested, but I was drawn to it. Not only did I love the photo of the four of us, but that retro greeting on the front was a hoot! So I brought it home to Virginia with me.

A few weeks later, I showed the card to a girlfriend at work. She looked at it, flipped it over, opened it up, and flipped it over again. 

      “Wait,” she said. “Did you grow up here in Virginia? I thought you grew up in California.”
      “I did. This photo was taken in California where we lived.” But before I could launch into my story of being dragged in front of our neighbor’s fireplace, she blurted out –
      “Look at the back. It says Roanoke.”

What? Why would it say Roanoke? I squinted and there it was in small print at the bottom: “Photocraft, Roanoke, VA.”

I had never noticed it before. 

Of all the thousands and thousands of towns in America, why would this card stock have been printed in Roanoke? 3,000 miles from Lafayette? On the other side of the country? The very same town where Rex grew up?

Did Rex do this? Did he -- or rather, will he -- manage to time travel long enough to prank me when I'm growing up? I've heard about time looping back on itself. Is that what this is? Is it a quantum prank? Or is it all just a happy coincidence and overactive imagination? 

I know what I believe. But you decide for yourself.

And Happy New Year.