Mail Carrier Kindness
People often share stories with me about how kind their mail carrier is. In each and every story I hear, the mail carrier always goes above and beyond their job description. That tends to be the common denominator in kindness stories – someone has made the proactive choice to go above and beyond. That’s what makes a moment memorable. I think the reason so many beautiful stories of connection happen with mail carriers is because they are a constant in our lives. They are predictable and reliable. They show up every day despite the weather. They see us and we see them. Connection is there for the taking….if we make the time.
Even our pets see and appreciate them….
Our delightful mail carrier, Teresa, gave our dog, Ella, a treat every day. Teresa had no idea she made not only Ella’s day but my husband Tom’s and mine as well. As soon as Ella heard the mail truck in the neighborhood, she would fly off her chair, where she sat perched looking out the window, and run full speed into the kitchen, sliding on the laminate floor trying to stop before passing her doggie door. She’d regain her footing, bolt through the door just in time to bark an enthusiastic greeting and devour the treat Teresa threw onto the driveway. Watching this joyful routine between friends never got old. Teresa would return our wave of thanks with her broad smile and an enthusiastic wave of her own. I needed to let her know how much her thoughtfulness impacted our household day after day, so I left Teresa a letter of appreciation in our mailbox. That gesture facilitated a lovely friendship filled with warm conversations around the mailbox. I looked forward to getting a dose of Teresa’s joyful energy as often as I could. A few years after our friendship began Ella turned sixteen years old. She was totally deaf and could no longer jump onto the chair and look out the window. She couldn’t hear the mail truck coming and her vision was compromised. One day, Teresa asked with concern if Ella was alright since she wasn’t seeing her very often. I described her condition and Teresa replied, “Here’s what I’ll do. If I see your car in the driveway, I’ll honk the horn, so you know to get Ella and bring her outside. I’ll wait an extra minute. I want to make sure she gets her afternoon treat each day. I miss seeing her enthusiastic tail wag.” Teresa’s demonstration of compassion touched me to the core. What she offered was so above and beyond her job description. So, I would listen for the honk from the mail truck, fly off my chair to get Ella, and together we ran outside for our treat. A dog bone for Ella and a smile and a wave from a friend for me. Her generous gift of kindness was a brilliant reminder of what can happen when we nurture our relationships.
At a recent workshop a woman shared that my talk had reawakened a beautiful memory from her childhood. She and her sister looked forward to the mail being delivered every day. Always hopeful for a letter for themselves, they would run out to greet the mail carrier each day and enthusiastically ask if there was a letter for them. After seeing a pattern of disappointment on the sisters’ faces week after week, the mail carrier started to write them letters each week to the absolute delight of the sisters. The girls then started leaving letters for the mail carrier in the mailbox and a fast and fun friendship developed. Five decades later the smile on this woman’s face lit up the room as she revisited this kindness.
Another workshop attendee shared that when she and her siblings were children, her father developed a friendship with their mail carrier. He often was outside when the mail was delivered, and they would strike up a conversation around the mailbox. Thirty years later when her father passed away a letter was delivered to the funeral home addressed to the children of the man who had passed. It was from the mail carrier from their childhood. He had read in the people that the kind man who always took the time to say hello on his daily route had passed away. The long retired mail carrier took the time to write an unexpected letter of appreciation to the children of his mailbox friend, from decades earlier, to let them know how much he valued the kindness and friendship of their father, reinforcing it’s never too late to share your kind thoughts.
My dear friend Kay, who passed away at the age of 100 a few years ago, befriended her mail carrier, Eddy. Kay was legally blind and lived alone. Her mail box was by her front door. Whenever she needed a jar of tomato sauce or her Tylenol PM bottle opened , or a piece of mail read to her, she would leave a note on the mailbox saying “Eddy, please see me.” Eddy would knock on the door and help Kay with whatever she needed. He became a friend and a lifeline for Kay since she knew he would be by at 2:50pm almost every day. This may have slowed Eddy down on his busy route, but the connection that developed between Eddy and Kay was priceless. Kindness isn’t always easy or convenient, but it always fills your cup back up!
Our fabulous mail carriers are the conduit between the writer of an unexpected letter of appreciation and the recipient. I am grateful for them all. Please share with me your Mail Carrier Kindness stories because I know there are countless feel good stories out there to nourish our souls.
