Dear Maria, guess what I found in my mailbox today!

Last year, when Maria asked me for my postal address in order to send me a Christmas card, I told her straight away chances are that this card would never find its way to my mailbox. Mail is not delivered anywhere on the KZN SouthCoast and I know from bitter experience that even postal items sent from within South Africa, get lost along the way. I keep a mailbox purely because my bank requires a postal address for Financial Intelligence Act purposes.

Maria decided to take a chance anyway and she mailed this envelope on the 14th December 2017 in Moscow. She tried to track its progress via the postal systems all the way to South Africa, but in January this year, she told me that the last tracking entry was entered at a post office in the Netherlands.

I was quite sure that I would never receive the card, but I kept on checking my mailbox whenever we passed there on our way to town. It was a very happy moment when the agent where the mailboxes are located, took the envelope out of the safe today (84 days after it was mailed). He was very excited and could not wait to tell me that “this envelope has traveled all the way from Russia”.  Imagine our excitement! Maria has taken the precaution of sending the item by registered mail and no doubt that was the reason why we received it, after all.

We opened the envelope right there and then and inside we found:

• a beautiful handmade card and a personal message. Maria, thank you so much for your good wishes – it is much appreciated and returned with love. I think those drawings of the cactus and the hibiscus flower were a superb touch; and
• a little golden gift box with a red ribbon and a small plastic bag containing decorations for a Christmas tree.

I just had to share these photos with you.

Thank you Maria 😍