“What in the world is this?” One October day two years ago, I went out to get my mail and found a mini pumpkin staring back at me from the mailbox. It had a painted jack-o’-lantern face and a mailing label and postage sticker stuck on. There was no return address. But whoever had sent it must have known I needed a laugh—I’d recently gone through a divorce.
A few days later, my friend Julie was over and noticed the pumpkin on the coffee table. “That’s cute,” she said. “Who sent it?” I told her I had no idea but that it had sure brightened my day. Her smile gave away her secret!
I got Julie to tell me more: Some 12 years earlier, inspired by a friend who sent mini pumpkins to her son away at school, Julie had picked three people she knew were going through difficult times and mailed them pumpkins. She still sends them every October, either to friends who need a spiritual lift or to those she knew would get a kick out of trying to guess the sender.
I’m grateful for good friends such as Julie who look out for me…and for the postal workers who look out for the pumpkins.
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