UTTERLY SURPRISED IN A GOOD WAY

If you wanted me to tell a hopeful story, so that I would feel a little spark of hope, and you helped me tell that hopeful story by asking me to tell you about a time when I was utterly surprised in a good way, this is a story I might very well tell you. It happened just yesterday.
My cousin in Calgary sent me a letter. It was delivered in a most unconventional manner. Its delivery was funded by the proceeds of a stamp. Its path was guided by an address and postal code. A letter carrier delivered it right to our house. The family gazed at it in wonder and we opened it to see what could possibly be inside.
It wasn’t the annual Christmas letter. We didn’t expect it to be, since the annual Christmas letter arrived in late December. It wasn’t a wedding invitation. It wasn’t a check or a bill. No photographs were enclosed. On closer inspection it turned out to be—imagine it now—just a letter! It started Dear Wendy. Please believe me. It’s a long time since Canada Post delivered me a letter with no pictures, Christmas greetings wedding invitations, receipts, checks or bills inside—unless you count the charitable solicitations, and letters from insurance companies saying they wouldn’t be paying the full amount of our claim. It was such an unusual occurrence that I felt compelled to tell my sister and my workmate that I had been blessed with such a letter.
My cousin and I have some things in common. Both of us love humour. She is a cartoonist who, so far as I know, has never been employed as a cartoonist. I love to write, though I’ve never turned it into a moneymaking proposition. Both of us have relied on our moms and their sisters to bring us together for special occasions. And now that our moms and their sisters are no longer around to do that, both of us have been wondering what we can do to make sure we don’t lose each other. Both of us are pretty reluctant to take on the job of planning a huge family reunion.
But she is one up on me now, having utterly surprised me in a good way. And I definitely will reply to her letter. First, though, I will have to make a decision. Should I engage Canada Post, or send an email?