It’s not that he used one at 17. It’s that he still has it 35 years later?
It’s possible, but not bloody likely.
Maybe stashed away in his parents’ house; maybe they started looking for things. I do indeed still have cards and pen-pal letters from back then, just sitting in their dresser drawers and such. Not organized at all, just left there.
Of course, it’s possible this Ford lady was just “drunk” also, and doesn’t remember things rightly (as possible with the other attendees). Even if something DID happen, perhaps she was too “messed up” to really have known who it was. Mistaken identity?
There are students like that. My daughter was one. Franklin Covey handed out day planners to her entire 8th grade. Most of the kids immediately pitched them. She came home just beaming, and said “look what they gave me. Now I can keep track of everything!”