The Story Behind the Mail

Book excerpt: Sweet Mother of Christ, Hallelujah! Seems like an avalanche has rolled up to my door. The mailbox was stuffed with letters from several different organizations and a couple of catalogs, and being a Tuesday, there was also a wad of junk mail. Remembering the thick manila envelope, IaEUR(tm)d received from the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) in mid-January with an assortment of giftsaEUR"a nice tablet-size calculator, all-occasion cards, address labels, a couple of notepads, a calendar, even a gift-bag. My conscience just wouldnaEUR(tm)t let me rest after receiving all these cool little gifts. I just had to send a donation to help with postage and handling. I think thataEUR(tm)s what caused the avalanche of mail that landed at my door. Deciding right then to keep a count of all incoming mail, I began to write down the names and contents of each envelope, thinking it couldnaEUR(tm)t possibly be too many more after this shipment. Boy was I ever wrong. I started receiving cards of all kind, prayer booklets, prayer relics, rosaries, crucifixes, and medals. Besides the letters, the phone calls started, so I started listing them too. Within a couple of weeks, I had accumulated several pages of organizations requesting help either by phone or postal service. And the brain being the peculiar organ that it isaEUR"my brain anywayaEUR"it gets restless at times for more activity. Firing up the computer, I started a real list of all the charitable organizations I hear from daily and decided to make my list an open project.