Sending Dead Letters - Softcover

Davis, Mr. Fletcher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0983060150 ISBN 13: 9780983060154

Publisher: Rattlesnake Valley Publishing, 2017

I never quite got the whole Halloween thing. Oh, I understood trick or treating. I liked the idea of free candy and staying out after dark. But no one could ever really explain, to my satisfaction, why we celebrated the holiday at all. It wasn’t like Easter, or Christmas, or Independence Day, or even Arbor Day. It was, as far as I could tell, a day about buying candy and costumes. Of course, when I got older it all became clear. It was about buying candy and costumes and drinking a lot. Turns out that there is more to it and I think I finally have a handle on it. It started out as a day to remember those who have passed on. It used to be that people were closer to death than we are now. People died surrounded by their friends and families. We have, of course, corporatized and commercialized dying, like everything else. We have put distance between ourselves and our ancestors. I’m pretty sure that not everyone in the world has this problem. To be fair, I’ve never had a relative or friend pass in a different country so I really don’t know. I can only guess. But I’d like to think it is an educated, reasonable guess, based on a few things I know. And I know about the Day of the Dead. Dia de Muertos is a celebration that takes place about the same time as Halloween. They both involve ghosts and hauntings and visits from the dead. That’s about all they have in common. While we run scared through the night on Halloween during the Day of the Dead we welcome back our relatives. We miss them. We seek their counsel. We offer our ancestors and recently departed gifts and tributes. The attitude is totally different. I like that better than Halloween. We loved those people. Why, all of a sudden, do we quake in fear? I’ve decided to go with the friendly and welcoming approach. We may as well stay in touch. How do we do that? I have my own idea. I’m going to write them letters. I’m going to send the dead letters. I don’t have addresses so I’m going to post them here. The dead most likely have internet access, right? One last thing to add: Nothing is worse than an inside joke. Writing letters to my relatives or friends might be a little boring to the average reader. I’m going to stick to writing famous people. Famous, of course, is a flexible term. Honest people could disagree about who is and who isn’t famous. But since I’m writing the letters I get to decide. I do hope you enjoy them.

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