From Lauren (Rat) - Sam's words 1

Lauren's envelope. I love it.

 It is April 1, 2020 - I am lining up a bunch of posts - but not in the mood to write the blurbs. Plus, we are in the thick of the pandemic and every day things change. So, if things settle down, I might be able to replace this with some fun words. Otherwise -- just enjoy the envelope(s) of the day.

There was a different update on the 24th of Apr - but it was just jabbering.

May 3, 2020
Several people shared very kind words about Sam yesterday. If you read the post early in the day and missed the comments that were posted later in the day, you can go back and read Sam's own personal account of her situation. Sam found the blog and exchange about a year ago. I think her first exchange was May of 2019. We did a fair amount of emailing in between times and I have a number of emails from Sam that offer insights into coping. I am sure that Sam would be fine with me sharing her thoughts. She was so generous in sharing pictures of her non-PTEX mail to help me fill the daily posts.

Here is a Dec 26, 2019 email from Sam - the bold type is my own highlighting:

again i swear I'm not bragging here..but i just added up my end of the year total mail art sent from the last 6 months which is when i joined both PTEX (1st) & then IOUMA a month later:

wait 4 it.......

264 pcs sent! holy crap. I'm a bit blown away, actually. 

i did mean it when i said mail art is my life. i pushed myself & times,which i paid 4, but i must create as long as i can. its just in me 2 do so. this has by far been the most creatively prolific time in my life & it's ephemeral art , which in really not in my wheelhouse-- functional 3D design was always my thing. 

if i weren't in the health sitch [situation] I'm in, i would have never been doing this-- its crazy i have a huge box filled with mail art...that's  more paper stuff than i ever had saved/accumulated of important things & keepsake from my last 46 yrs of my life (not including photos).   & so there it is.

****
I spelled out situation - because sometimes I had to work at grasping her abbreviations.
I'll add more of her comments to her envelopes as they pop up.
To me, this is a little gift - left for us. Somebody who clearly had a tough situation - who will inspire us to forge ahead even though we are hunkered down.
Forging whilst hunkering.
That's our current dilemma in a nutshell.
It's like dieting whilst feasting.
Or swimming whilst skateboarding.
Coming together whilst staying apart.

I will not be updating all the posts. Some days will be the usual drivel. But, there will be some wonderful nuggets from Samantha that pop up from time to time. They will last all the way to December because there are some gorgeous holiday envelopes already scheduled for December.