Present Letters

53 Years Ago

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 19:56:00 +0000

Dear Mom,

I posted on wordpress. I'm not sure which one I like better, but here is the link to it if interested. I was having trouble with blogger way back when I was blogging. Egads, haven't in such a long time, so I decided to give Wordpress a try, but like anything new, sometimes it's just a matter of getting used to it and since I don't blog enough, it's hard to say.

So I won't yammer on here about all I shared with you, about you, but it's hard to believe you've been gone for as long as you were alive.

Much love,

Lynn

Fifty Years Ago

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 08:00:00 +0000

Once again, in honor of my mother... I started this blog because of her ten years ago. You can read it here. And today, it's 50 years ago since her passing. Fifty years? And it was on Friday the 13th that she moved onto another life, and it's Friday the 13th today too.

Dear Mom,
I still miss and love you.

And I can't believe I haven't posted since December 2018. I've been a bit out of the social media arena. Is that what you call it, arena?

Dear Mom,
I'm still going to the Post Office and receiving letters, and writing back anyone who writes me. As you know it's my favorite form of writing... my favorite love. I did find a new love though and I may have mentioned it before... quilting. I thought I had mentioned it in previous posts, but I guess not. Or at least I can't locate it. I call it my Letters of Love quilt.

The story... I was with Ruth (younger sister) who is the quilter, shopping with her for material for a quilt she was going to make. I was along for the ride. Inside the shop I spotted material that had writing on it. Whoa, I thought. Maybe I'll make a quilt with writing on it. I bought seven or eight yards of each writing material they had. FYI, I spent more money than Ruth that day. I stuck the material in the closet and it sat a year. I was waiting for the right pattern. Then on some blog I found the perfect pattern, bought it. And I believe another year went by. I decided I better do something with this or what a waste. I called upon the experts, mainly Ruth, Jan, and Elsie... what do I do? Where do I start? What should go where? The questions were numerous and the suggestions were even more so. Ruth suggested I join the quilter's guild that her and Elsie belong to and then I could go to the retreat where all those who attend gather and sew. This seemed like the only way I would accomplish this task. I did what was required before the retreat: to cut out all the pieces, so when you were at the retreat, all you did was sew, sew, sew. And so, so, so I was sure, sure, sure that I would have my quilt finished before the end of the retreat. HAAAAAAAAAAA. Little did I know. My quilt block required 8 small pieces to be sewn together. That doesn't seem too bad, right? But the size quilt I decided to make was for a queen size bed, and that required 240 blocks. I was still hopeful, until the end of the retreat and I only had 25 blocks sewn. Two and half days of straight sewing... okay not completely as one stopped to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then there was exercise, and show and tell, and gabbing with various people. Who knew? I didn't do a lot after that retreat until Ruth told me that the guild was going to have a quilt show and they like all members to contribute. I decided that would be a good goal for me to have this quilt finished for the show. And by golly, I sewed every day, even if it was for five minutes. I'll share more about the process if anyone is interested, but I did finish sewing it, and then had a professional actually quilt it. It was too big for me to handle. And viola, Ruth and I both entered our quilt pieces. Ruth and I both won second place. Mine for the large quilt size and hers for the miniature size. How about that? I'm still in shock. But mostly in shock that I actually finished it and the quilt is now on the bed in my writing room. How appropriate, eh?

Here it is:

Well Mom, since you were a seamstress and could sew anything even without a pattern, I thought you'd enjoy this huge accomplishment. I must have inherited some of your creativity. Thank you.
Love, Lynn

The Last of the Post Office Box 113 Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 01:29:00 +0000

Day 295 through 305

This begins and ends December’s letters and also ends this Post Office Box 113 – my year adventure with my post office box that my kids purchased for me for my 60^thbirthday. I renewed the box, so those who are writing to this Post Office Box can continue. Or if you haven’t had the opportunity to do so, now is your chance. I just won’t be tracking it here like I did the past year.

Day 295 – December 1st – One letter

Day 296 – Two letters

Day 297 – Zero letters

Day 298 – Post Office unexpectedly closed due to the memorial of our former President Bush.

Day 299 – Believe it or not, I ran out of time and missed going!

Day 300 – Four letters! Perhaps skipping two days makes a difference.

Day 301 – One letter

Day 302 – Three letters – and I didn’t even skip a day!

Day 303 – One letter – this was a mystery as there was no return address and the envelope felt really thick. When I opened it, here it was… from hubby! He certainly tricked me.

Day 304 – Five letters and three of these were from my husband again, but this time with no return address, I suspected it was from him.

Day 305 – December 13th - Six letters. This was my birthday and this was the day, a year ago, that I began this adventure and what an adventure it has been! This is also my husband’s birthday AND our wedding anniversary!

And here is the total number of letters that I have received this year at my post office box: 296 (but not 365 days, as there were only 304 days that the PO is open, so that’s pretty close to being one letter a day average!

And this is the number of letters/pieces of mail that I sent out as I traveled to the post office (this includes my 200+ Christmas cards): 913… um yeah, I might have an addiction to writing letters, but it’s one addiction I don’t mind and I’ll continue as long as I’m able.

I’d like to take this time now to thank everyone and keep on writing those letters! And not to just me, but to anyone you love or want to connect with.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE YOU ALL!

And my two little stinkers

Day 283 - 294

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 22:23:00 +0000

This ends November’s letters

Day 283 – One letter

Day 284 – Zero letters

Day 285 – Two letters – both of these were a surprise!

Day 286 – Zero letters

Day 287 – One letter

Day 288 – Three letters. I had forgotten my key and asked the gentleman, who was relatively new at this post office, if he could retrieve my mail. He was happy to and when he came back, he said, “Oh sorry, all you have is three letters.” I shouted, “Are you kidding? That’s a lot! Whoo-hooo!” I’m sure he thought I was a little crazy.

Day 289 – Zero letters

Day 290 – Zero letters

Day 291 – I was actually too lazy to go out, busy doing all kinds of stuff at home.

Day 292 – Two letters – one was a small package from a dear friend I haven’t heard from in quite some time.

Day 293 – Zero letters

Day 294 – Two letters – one was a surprise package from a cousin who sent me some art – I had no idea he was artistic. Isn’t that fun?

And that concludes November. Only 11 more days to go before this Post Office Box 113 adventure will come to an end. Oh, I’ll still have the Post Office Box, but not the daily adventure.

Day 271 - 282

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Thu, 29 Nov 2018 12:00:00 +0000

This begins November’s letters…

Day 271 – November 1^st, one letter, this friend writes at least once a week, if not more, a special lady.

Day 272 – One letter, another special lady who writes quite frequently.

Day 273 – Zero letters

Day 274 – Zero letters

Day 275 – One letter – a surprise, this one was a thank you!

Day 276 – One letter

Day 277 – Two letters – one from my daughter, can you see her funny card? And the other from a special friend who always writes. Okay, all my letter writer friends are special. My non-writing friends are special too, just so you know.

Day 278 – Zero letters

Day 279 – Zero letters

Day 280 – One letter

Day 281 – Zero letters

Day 282 – Didn’t go today because we got a lot of snow!

Day 258 - 270

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 14:00:00 +0000

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This ends October’s letters… and coming soon November.

Day 258 – Two letters

Day 259 – One letter

Day 260 – Didn’t get to go this day.

Day 261 – One letter

Day 262 – Zero letters

Day 263 – Zero letters

Day 264 – I was out of town for a spiritual seminar…

Day 265 – And out of town

Day 266 – And out of town

Day 267 – And still out of town

Day 268 – And still out of town

Day 269 – Six letters – can you can guess why so many letters this day?

Day 270 – I elected not to go this day.

Day 244 - 257

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 25 Nov 2018 23:31:00 +0000

This begins October’s letters - Umm, yeah, it's been a bit busy.

Day 244 – October 1^st, jackpot – six letters (guess that’s what happens when you skip two days going to the post office.)

Day 245 – Zero letters

Day 246 – One letter

Day 247 – Zero letters

Day 248 – Zero letters

Day 249 – I didn’t make it to the post office this day

Day 250 – Post Office closed – Columbus Day!

Day 251 – 1 letter

Day 252 – Zero letters

Day 253 – Three letters

Day 254 – Zero letters

Day 255 – Zero letters

Day 256 – Zero letters

Day 257 – Zero letters, but even still, I have received 244 pieces of mail as of this date! Wonderful! I am so grateful for all of you!

Day 232 - 243

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 23:57:00 +0000

This post finishes September’s letters.

Day 232 – September 17, three letters!

Day 233 – Zero letters

Day 234 – One letter

Day 235 – Zero letters

Day 236 – Zero letters

Day 237 – One letter

Day 238 – Zero letters

Day 239 – Two letters

Day 240 – Two letters (well, one is a postcard, but it’s just like a letter to me)

Day 241 – 1 letter (again, a postcard, and again, just like a letter to me)

Day 242 – Didn’t go to the post office as I was helping with a garage sale.

Day 243 – Didn’t go to the post office as I was helping with a garage sale. And what a sale it was!

Day 220-231

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 23:52:00 +0000

This post begins September’s letters. I know it’s October, and I have no idea where September went, but… let's just say that I've been busy, busy, busy.

Day 220 – September 1^st. Zero letters...

Day 221 – September 4, 1 letter

Day 222 – Zero letters

Day 223 – 2 letters

Day 224 – Zero letters

Day 225 – Didn’t go this day and not even sure why… must have had something going on.

Day 226 – Didn’t go this day either…

Day 227 – Zero letters

Day 228 – One letter

Day 229 – Zero letters

Day 230 – One letter

Day 231 – Two letters

Day 206 - 219

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 20:40:00 +0000

This post will finish up the month of August.

Day 206 – Two letters this day – a surprise from both!

Day 207 – I was out all day and didn’t make it to the post office.

Day 208 – Zero letters.

Day 209 – One letter.

Day 210 – Zero letters.

Day 211 – Two letters, my special pen-pal and another surprise!

Day 212 – One letter, another special pen-pal.

Day 213 – I was out of town for the weekend so I didn’t make it on this day or

Day 214 – this day.

Day 215 – Two letters – two special people. Okay, all people are special. How blessed I am with so many people who write me.

Day 216 – Zero letters.

Day 217 – One letter.

Day 218 - One letter.

Day 219 – Zero letters ends this month of August, but still brings my total to 216 letters!

Day 193 - 205

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 20:38:00 +0000

Here it is September, but I’m just now posting my letters for August.

Day 193 – Two letters on this 1^st day of August.

Day 194 – Zero letters

Day 195 – I was out of town this day, so no post office trip.

Day 196 – This day I had a funeral to attend, so again, no post office trip.

Day 197 – Two letters – both by the same person! How special.

Day 198 – No letters this day.

Day 199 – One letter by my special pen-pal. Okay, I have more than one special pen-pal so it may be confusing.

Day 200 – Zippo on the letters today.

Day 201 – A sweet card with a baby’s photo on it, welcome to the world Elizabeth! And on this day, day 201, I have received 201 pieces of mail. That makes an average of one a day! How fun!

Day 202 – I wasn’t able to get to the post office this day as I spend the day with my aunt. She’s 94!

Day 203 – A post card came today! I’d like to travel to this place.

Day 204 – One letter from my other special pen-pal. And yes, I bought some new stamps (background).

Day 205 – Three pieces of mail - two special pen-pals and then a postcard from my daughter– isn’t it cute?

Day 168 - 179

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 18:40:00 +0000

Okay, so it had been so long since I posted, that I went by my latest info and realized I skipped Day 168-179, I was wondering why I was so caught up! LOL. Well, here is the info that should have gone before the last post...

Day 168 – One letter – I’m so grateful.

Day 169 – Zero letters – I’m still so grateful

Day 170 – Three letters! Jackpot! Triple grateful!

Day 171 – 1 letter, always grateful

Day 172 – 2 letters, again grateful

Day 173 – 2 letters, yes, grateful, grateful

Day 174 – 0 letters, and still thankful

Day 175 – 2 letters, most appreciated

Day 176 – 1 letter, I really am extremely grateful

Day 177 – 3 letters, many thanks again

Day 178 – Not able to go because I had a class.

Day 179 – Not able to go because I was on a rode trip with my two daughters…

But how do you like that spider? Ugh, I’m glad he was dead when I found him.

Day 180-192

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 18:31:00 +0000

Day 180 – Not able to go, as I was still on the go with my girls for a little trip to Florida for my middle daughter’s 30^th birthday that her sister and I had planned, but she happens to be 33 now. You know, schedules…

Day 181 – Not able to go

Day 182 – Not able to go

Day 183 – 7 letters – that’s what happens when you aren’t able to get to your P.O Box for a week! Whoo-hoo!

Day 184 – 0 letters

Day 185 – 1 letter

Day 186 – 0 letters

Day 187 – 1 letter

Day 188 – 1 letter

Day 189 – I wasn’t able to get to the post office today due to Sibling Day – a day that my three siblings and I venture out and spend the day together. I believe this was our 24^th sibling day.

Day 190 – 0 letters

Day 191 – 1 letter

Day 192 – 0 letters

And that takes care of July… onto August… stay tuned.

Day 160-167

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:33:00 +0000

Well, I'm behind, as you can see... and it will stay that way for quite a while, but life is good.

Day 160 – Two letters – hot diggity!

Day 161 – Zero letters

Day 162 – One letter – yippee!

Day 163 – Zero letters

Day 164 – One letter – another yippee!

Day 155 – Zero letters

Day 166 – Zero letter

Day 167 – One letter – and another hot diggity!

Decided to throw in a picture of Kitty! She's the sweetest!

Day 150-159

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sat, 23 Jun 2018 18:04:00 +0000

Day 150 – One letter and how do you like the picture of a card that was sent to me DONUT WORRY J

Day 151 – Zero letters

Day 152 – 1 letter - yippee

Day 153 – 3 letters - jackpot

Day 154 – Zero letters

Day 155 – Zero letters

Day 156 – 1 letter

Day 157 – Zero letters

Day 158 – Zero letters

Day 159 – 1 letter

Whether I get any letters or not, it’s always a fun trip to the Post Office. And do you know they have some new stamps out now that are scratch and sniff? How cool is that? And they are cute too – ice cream bars! Perfect for the summer! Makes you want to write a letter to use a stamp, doesn’t it?

Day 142-149

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 23:05:00 +0000

Day 142 – Zero letters

Day 143 – Two letters! Woot! Woot!

Day 144 – Zero letters

Day 145 – Zero letters

Day 146 – Two letters again! Another Woot! Woot!

Day 147 – One letter – yippee!

Day 148 – And two letters again! Hooray!

Day 149 – Zero letters

And here are some silly pictures of my kids and my feet – we all can spread our toes.

And this is a picture of a frog that almost looked like he was part of the deck railing. At first I thought it was a rock. I never saw a frog this color.

Happy June!

Day 130-141 (thru end of May)

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 18:37:00 +0000

A lot of zero letters in the box and that means everyone is as busy as I am. For a lot of people, the yard calls out, or just getting out in the warmer weather. But if you ask me, anything over 80 degrees and I’m toast. Yeah, I’m more of a winter person. What can I say? Thank goodness for air conditioning… which is why I’m able to keep up on letter writing! Enjoy your time whatever you do! This brings Day 141 to the end of May!

Day 130 – Zero letters

Day 131 – Zero letters

Day 132 – Zero letters

Day 133 – One letter

Day 134 – Zero letters

Here’s a new family member of my daughter’s - her name is Lemontine. Isn't she a cutie?

Day 135 – One letter

Day 136 – Two letters

Day 137 – One letter

Day 138 – One letter, and I’d just like to make note that I received three letters in a row by the SAME person!

Day 139 – Zero letters, but saw these two little stinkers as I was heading to the Post Office.

Day 140 – Zero letters

Day 141 – One letter

Day 121-129

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Fri, 18 May 2018 02:18:00 +0000

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This next week or so is better than the way May started off… but really, I’m not complaining about the week prior. Really. I do just love going to the post office.

Day 121 – One letter

Day 122 – Zero letters

Day 123 – Three letters and my first piece of junk mail! Junk mail? How’d that happen? A new bank in town.

Day 124 – One letter

Day 125 – One letter

Day 126 – No letters

Day 127 – Zippo letters

Day 128 – Zero letters

Day 129 – Two letters!

And just so you all don’t think that the only thing I do is write letters and go to the post office, here’s a little taste of what I’ve also been doing all week:

Day 116-120

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 14 May 2018 02:11:00 +0000

Let’s just say that the month of May started off slow, as you will see by this first week…

Day 116 – No letters

Day 117 – A letter from my special pen-pal!

Day 118 – No letters

Day 119 – No letters

Day 120 – No letters

108-115

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Tue, 01 May 2018 04:00:00 +0000

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Day 108 – Zero letters in the box.

Day 109 – One letter today!

Day 110 – Wasn’t able to get to the post office in time.

Day 111 – Three letters on this day. Anytime there is more than one letter, I feel I hit the jackpot. Okay, even one letter makes me feel like I hit the jackpot. Thank you everyone!

Day 112 – Wasn’t able to get to the post office in time… was in another state! Ha, Illinois, which when you live in St. Louis, it’s less than an hour drive and you’re there! I attended a Sound of Soul event.

Day 113 – Wasn’t able to get to the post office in time… Again in Illinois for my daughter’s final art exhibition for her MFA in sculpture. She did a fantastic job, of course.

Day 114 – Three letters! Now, I could have gotten one of these on the prior two days that I ended up not going, but it doesn’t matter—they were received and with a grateful heart.

Day 115 – This closes out the month of April… with a special piece of mail from a special lady in my life. Now onto May and what awaits at the post office.

Day 101-107

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 01:31:00 +0000

Day 101 – Starting off in the 100s, no letters.

Day 102 – This day I received a package and in it was a beautiful Peacock Ore rock from my youngest. Thank you.

Day 103 – This day was Monday and I was a bit off, not feeling real jolly, so seeing two letters from two special people in my life lifted the ole spirits.

Day 104 – And when one needs help with anything they are dealing with and they ask for Spirit to step in, well, I’m here to tell you, it happens. This letter opened my heart so wide, I didn’t think I’d ever quit sobbing. Also marked as number 7 on the back of the envelope. Hhmmmm….

Day 105 – Empty post office box today, but I did get to have a conversation with the postal lady… I just love her.

Day 106 – Can you believe it – four pieces of mail, one being a package. Woot Woot!

Day 107 – No letters – this will give me some time to catch up.

Day 97 - 100

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 21:30:00 +0000

Wow, can’t believe I’m at Day 100 on this post.

Day 97 – No letters today, but saw this creature lurking out in the back yard. He was out there for at least an hour and I observed him diving into the pond and eating fish. He got three that I'm aware of. Who knows how many he has actually eaten. We always wondered what critter was eating the fish. Now we know!

Day 98 – Zero letters

Day 99 – Two letters – one was a package with a letter in it! And look at the cool eraser that was in the package.Yes, an eraser! Isn’t it dreamy? I love it!

Day 100 – No letters today. I can’t believe that it’s Day 100 for the Post Office Adventure and I have received 119 letters thus far! That’s an average of more than one a day according to my day count. I have missed going ten of those 100 days. And I look forward to the next 100 days! Yippee!

Day 91-96

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 20:01:00 +0000

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Day 91 – Five letters! Can you believe it? Well, yes, since I had skipped going three days from being out of town. But what a nice welcome back!

Day 92 – I was out shopping for my daughter’s birthday and didn’t make it to the post office on time. But had fun shopping – even though I’m not a shopper! Just ask those who know me, they’ll tell you.

Day 93 – I received a letter from that special pen-pal of mine!

Day 94 – There were no letters in the post office box today, but that’s okay. Gives me time to catch up on writing back the letters I’ve received.

Day 95 – One letter!! Whoo-hoo!

Day 96 – Zero letters…

And I received these from hubby, aren’t they beautiful?

Day 88-90

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Day 88 – maybe, maybe not

Day 89 – maybe, maybe not

Day 90 – maybe, maybe not

I was out of town, so I don’t know if there were any letters on these days.

Hope you had a great EASTER!

Every bunny loves a letter!

Day 81-87

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 11:00:00 +0000

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Day 81 – Three letters! Woot Woot!

Day 82 – Zero letters

Day 83 – One letter! Another Woot Woot!

Day 84 – No letters

Day 85 – One letter! Again Woot Woot!

Day 86 – Zippo letters

Day 87 – One letter! My special pen-pal – and Woot Woot!