So now that USPS is on the chopping block because of extreme cruelty in office, I would like to share a quick story about my Papa who worked for the Post Office. He was an administrator who worked for USPS for a really long time. He also served as a medic in WWII.
I was with my Nana and Papa driving home from Mangum, OK the night before he died. I was in the back of their van listening to a newly released song: In the Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics. It was (and still is) so beautiful. The lyrics: I wish I could have told him in the living years- hit my heart deeply. I was in 5th grade; apparently, I’ve been a deep feeler my whole life. I noticed Papa wheezing a lot that night—he smoked a long time. That’s not uncommon for his era and military service. But he also did something I never remember him doing in my whole relationship with him-when they got to my home and dropped me off, he kissed me on my cheek. He had never done that before in my memory. I think he had some PTSD so emotionally we weren’t always connected, even though we were close. I will never forget it. The song, the kiss, and the next day the phone call he died. He couldn’t breathe anymore.
Just last month my Nana, who has just moved back to Mangum, sent me my stamp collection Papa made for all of his grandchildren. I have stamps from as early as 1944 and continues throughout the decades.
This Book was created with love. By, Lester Blake.
Here are a few of the pages.
I also listen to “In the Living Years” to remember him.
There is Life Out There 