Postcards From Lizzie: Letter From Home

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Letter From Home

One of the more amusing parts about Lizzie’s postcards is the change in his tone from message to message. Sometimes he sounds wide-eyed and curious. Other times he seems confident and savvy. He almost always sounds happy to be exploring and occasionally expresses a bit of homesickness. In the last card that came before Easter, Lizzie seems to have acted on the homesickness…

This card was postmarked in Smithsburg, Maryland – where we live – and had a distinctly loving (dare I say “grandmotherly”) tone. But I’m just the blogger – you be the judge:

Dear ____ & _____,

I was in your area last night!! I had to come to Smithsburg to get some extra things for my travels. I stopped to visit, but you were sleeping! I was glad to see ____ in his car bed. _____ was cuddled in her bed with her stuffed animals. I really miss you, but oh am I ever enjoying my travels. Do you like the cards you are getting?

Things in Smithsburg look "springy." Hope you are enjoying the warm weather.

Love, Lizzie

PS - I had a snack with Fluffer at Pap & Cilda's.* She said she is visiting both houses now and enjoys living on ______ Road. We may room together if I ever decide to settle down. Love you!

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* Pap & Cilda are the kids’ grandparents. They live next door and may or may not be attempting to coax Fluffer Muffin into living with them… the subject is under debate.

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The Original Postcard Request Email:

Last May, four kittens arrived at our barn in western Maryland. They were tiny, starving and scared. Two were tuxedo kitties (black & white) and two were gray tabbies. We’ve never known if they were dumped or if something happened to their mother, but they arrived very much alone and in need of help. My niece and nephew, five and two respectively, immediately took up their cause. They made it their daily priority to give the cats food, water and as many squeezes as they would tolerate. They named them: Fluffer Muffin, Midnight, Sally and Lizzie. As they grew, it became apparent that one of the gray tabbies, the one called Lizzie, was actually a boy. We contemplated changing his name but never got the chance.

In early January, we had the four kittens fixed. A week later we found Lizzie’s body at the farm. At first we all assumed that he had simply not recovered from the surgery but, after taking him to the vet for autopsy, we discovered that he actually died from some sort of blunt-force trauma – possibly from being hit by a car. In any case, we buried Lizzie and didn’t tell my niece and nephew. At first there wasn’t really a plan. My brother-in-law told them that Lizzie had wandered off looking for adventure. We hoped that would be enough of an answer. But it hasn’t been... instead my niece and nephew think up at least one new adventure for Lizzie every day. “Maybe he’s in New York working in an office where he has to wear a tie.” “Maybe he’s in New Zealand working construction.” “Maybe he’s in California and married to a nice orange cat.”

Then today, after coming up with their usual silly story about Lizzie’s adventures, my niece looked at me and said sadly, “I don’t know where Lizzie is but I wish he would send me a postcard and tell me he’s okay.” My sister and I looked at each other. My first thought was to send a bunch of postcards (from Lizzie to the kids) to friends around the country/world and ask them to send them back. Then I realized that was the long way around. So, here’s what I’m asking:

If you have a postcard, a stamp and the desire to make a little girl and a little boy very happy, please PLEASE take a minute to send the kids a postcard/letter from Lizzie. It doesn’t have to be long (even if it just says, “Having lots of adventures! I miss you guys! Love, Lizzie”) or fancy, it just has to be from Lizzie and have a postmark that is outside of Smithsburg, Maryland. Please feel free to share this story with anyone you think may want to send a letter - even if we just get one postcard back, we succeeded!

Our Address:

My Favorite Farmhands

P.O. Box 569

Smithsburg, Maryland 21783

We will scan and upload all the postcards we receive from Lizzie to her website (www.postcardsfromlizzie.blogspot.com) so you can all follow Lizzie’s adventures too!

Thanks!

Auntie Anne