Another Friday, Missed The Last One and a Question for you?

So sorry I missed you last Friday. I have been under the weather since last Thursday evening. Made it to work on Friday, just barely, and then was sick all weekend and even had to visit the Doc on Monday. Didn't go back to work until Wed and still am not at 100%, but at least I'm off today. I had planned a vacation day to have a super long weekend with President's Day on Monday, so I'll have more time to rest up and get totally well. It all started with a sore throat and I must say it was the worst one I have ever had, followed by headaches, sneezing, coughing, etc. Not pleasant.

There was one happy moment though so let me explain. Years ago, I had four penpals, I got them by reading a country decorating magazine and I wrote about myself and had gotten many letters, I wrote to them all and through the years I ended up with four regular writing penpals. One woman was elderly and she was from IN, one letter I just never got a reply, I tried a second time, neither letter was returned, but I had assumed she had passed.

Another penpal was from NJ, her name was Marlene, she worked in NYC for Leona Helmsley, yes, the Queen of Mean. She told me in a letter that she actually was a decent person to work for. Marlene commuted daily from NJ to NYC. She had had several miscarriages over the years we wrote, and she tried everything to get pregnant. She was in her 40's and so desperately wanted a child. The last letter I received from her was back in 2005 and she was so excited, she had conceived and was carrying twins. She had to spend most of her time in bed, but she didn't care, I was so happy for her and scared as well. I knew when she was due and never got a letter from her saying she had the twins. I wrote her and still no letter, I wrote her a second time, and still no letter. Neither were returned to me, so someone got them and chose not to write back. I pray that she has two wonderful children and she is just too busy to write to penpals, but my heart tells me differently. Marlene used to write me about 3-4 times a month, so you see my concern. So now I was down to two penpals.

Deb was a penpal whose husband had roots in Pittsburgh. She came to Pittsburgh once, but we were unable to hook up to meet and vowed to meet some other visit. She lived in Karlsruhe ND on a farm. We wrote at least once a month to one another, she telling me about their farm, the animals they had, their children, her husbands medical woes. She had some health issues herself, but they were minor to what her husband had, but they were running this farm. So back in 2008 around Thanksgiving time, I wrote to her and her letter was returned to me unable to forward (UTF), so I wrote a second time and once again UTF. I attempted to contact a fellow Postmaster there and all they told me was that they were no longer there and had moved on. How very strange for her not to tell me her new address. So I figured that I'd probably never hear from her again. Lo and behold, I received a letter in Saturday's mail and I was so excited it was from Deb. I held it in my hand just staring at the envelope and the address I didn't recognize in a town in ND. I opened it up and it was 6-pages long. She must have had so much to tell me and I began reading. I found out that she had a fire at their farmhouse on Dec 1, 2008, the home burnt to the ground, it was electrical in nature, but they had all made it out safely. She said that she had lost her address book in the flames, and here she found in the back of her wallet my address just recently. She forgot she had put it in there too. One week after that, her husband and her were driving in their van and hit an ice patch and rolled the van over several times, landing upright. She was knocked out and her husband had several broken bones, but they had both survived. Both of them continued to have health issues. His being the worse, he was in constant pain and one day in May of last year, he had a heart attack, and she had to make the choice to let him go. Finally, he was at peace. My heart sank when I read this. She told me she still owns the farm, and she can't part with it yet although people would want to buy it for the land. She lives in a small apartment in a small town alone. Her son was married, has a child, and divorced and is about to remarry. Her daughter has just purchased a house with her fiance, they are both about 45 minutes away from her. Her daughter and she always did craft shows together, she lost all her craft things and I'm not sure she even does that anymore.

I wrote back immediately, not wanting for her to think she had lost me as well. I can't wait to re-connect with her again and am looking for her next letter.

So my question to you is: Is there someone out there that you need to re-connect with? Perhaps a family member, a loved one, or a penpal from years gone by? Today is a great day to sit down and write that person a letter, or perhaps just a note. Reconnect before it is too late!!!

Oh yes, I almost forgot, my 4th penpal is alive and well, in Chandler AZ. We've been writing for 25 years, never met. She did remind me in her Christmas card that I owed her a letter. So guess what I'm doing this afternoon, you got it, I'm sitting down and writing her a letter. I'm sure she's been waiting for it.

I hope I didn't go on and on too much, but I just wanted everyone to hear this somewhat of a happy story and to hopefully make you think of someone you need to write to.

Have a wonderful weekend.