Letters to the Mail Carrier

Our mail carrier, Doreen, has walked our route for nineteen years. My kids started leaving her drawings in the mailbox when they were four and six. She started leaving drawings back.

Hers are better. She draws tiny cartoon envelopes with legs, running through snowstorms, sunbathing on the curb in July. My daughter keeps them in a shoebox labeled "DOREEN ART – DO NOT TOUCH."

When my son broke his arm falling off a skateboard, a get-well card appeared the next afternoon with a drawing of an envelope wearing a cast. He carried it to school for a week.

I don't think Doreen knows how big she is in our house. She's part of the weather of our days, as steady as the porch light. This December we're giving her a framed collection of the kids' best drawings. I suspect she'll pretend she isn't going to cry.