Stranger Than Fiction

Two months ago I ordered my daughter's next handwriting book so I would have it when she finished the other one. About a month after ordering it, I hadn't received it yet. At first I thought maybe I was just being scatter-brained and hadn't called to order it after all. So I called and sure enough the owner of the family owned store remembered that I had placed the order and remembered sending it out to me. I asked him if he had ordered it media mail and he said yes and asked me to wait another 10 days or so to see if it came.

Another two weeks passed and no book. I called back to let him know that I still had not received it and to see if it had been returned to him. He said that he had not received it and that he would send a new book out right away. I got the new book 2 days later.

I took my kids to a birthday party today and on the way home I stopped to check the mail. Guess what I found. The handwriting book. And course I not writing this story to tell you that I ordered a hanwriting book twice and got both copies. I could not believe what I saw when I opened my mail. The package had been burned! Never in my whole life have I seen anything like it. It was in a plastic bag. It was wet, and it was burned.

There was a letter enlclosed and here is what it said:

Dear Postal Customer,

On March 24, 2008 a postal contract vehicle carrying mail to the *** Processing &Distribution Center was involved in an accident which resulted in the vehicle catching fire and destryoing some mail.

Any mail that was not completely destroyed has been recovered and transported to the *** P&DC to be re-processed. Mail containing a legible address or return address will be re-processed and delivered as soon as possible.

The enclosed mail piece was addressed to you or, is being returned to you because we cannot determine who the mail piece should be delivered to due to a missing or incomplete address.

The loss or delay of any piece of mail is frustrating to both the Postal Service and our customers, and we aggree that incidents such as this should not occur. We realize that your mail is important to you and that you have very right to expect it to be delivered on time and in good condition.

Please be assured that we are constantly working to better meet your expectations and our service standards. You are a valued customer and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.

I am a firm believer that things do not just happen by chance. I have no idea why it was my mail that was burned on the truck and why the address was still intact so that they could still send it to me, but I am sure there is an object lesson in here somewhere. I pray that the driver of the vehicle was not injured and am lifting up prayers in the event that he or she was.