When I was looking for something educational to do involving reading while at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina, I discovered this mailbox, The Mailbox of the Kindred Spirit, which is on the southern end of Sunset Beach. The mailbox is real. The mailbox is the inspiration for my story about Ernie and Melody who meet at a young age at a Golf Club in the mountains of North Carolina where he works and where her mother works. They grow up and grow apart and she moves to Ocean Isle Beach. Eventually he comes to a place where he tries to connect with her again. The mailbox plays an important part in their story. People leave letters, notes, mementos to loved ones that they miss for whatever reason. It's about a 3 mile hike from the Sunset Beach pier. It's a little closer if you can find parking at the edge of the beach near the last boardwalk. Parking, though, is hard to find. The mailbox is set up beyond almost the last set of sand dunes. It's tucked away behind one. There's a couple of benches where you can sit and watch the fishing boats or the tides roll in and out. The first time I went to the mailbox it was so late it got dark. It was quite the moving experience. I had just lost my Dad but continued to find pennies from heaven everywhere and still do. I left some in the mailbox. Upon my second journey to the mailbox this year, I found the pennies I left the year before were all gone along with all of the letters. Now there are simply notebooks and pens inside the mailbox. Who is the mysterious mailman or woman who is caretaker of the mailbox? I'll let you take a walk out there to see if I left more pennies from heaven or not. I hope you enjoy this story - it's somewhat of a love story with a tiny bit of poetry thrown in. It is near and dear to my heart!
When I was looking for something educational to do involving reading while at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina, I discovered this mailbox, The Mailbox of the Kindred Spirit, which is on the southern end of Sunset Beach. The mailbox is real. The mailbox is the inspiration for my story about Ernie and Melody who meet at a young age at a Golf Club in the mountains of North Carolina where he works and where her mother works. They grow up and grow apart and she moves to Ocean Isle Beach. Eventually he comes to a place where he tries to connect with her again. The mailbox plays an important part in their story. People leave letters, notes, mementos to loved ones that they miss for whatever reason. It's about a 3 mile hike from the Sunset Beach pier. It's a little closer if you can find parking at the edge of the beach near the last boardwalk. Parking, though, is hard to find. The mailbox is set up beyond almost the last set of sand dunes. It's tucked away behind one. There's a couple of benches where you can sit and watch the fishing boats or the tides roll in and out. The first time I went to the mailbox it was so late it got dark. It was quite the moving experience. I had just lost my Dad but continued to find pennies from heaven everywhere and still do. I left some in the mailbox. Upon my second journey to the mailbox this year, I found the pennies I left the year before were all gone along with all of the letters. Now there are simply notebooks and pens inside the mailbox. Who is the mysterious mailman or woman who is caretaker of the mailbox? I'll let you take a walk out there to see if I left more pennies from heaven or not. I hope you enjoy this story - it's somewhat of a love story with a tiny bit of poetry thrown in. It is near and dear to my heart!