Dear Reader Column 09-26-08

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Dear Reader,

I said good-bye to Flat Stanley this past Monday. Shipped him Priority Mail back to Abigail, the second grader at North Liberty Elementary School in Indiana. Readers continue to write in about Flat Stanley: Chelle Carevlae, a hot air balloon pilot in Kenya, said Flat Stanley was one of her passengers on a balloon safari over the Maasai Mara Game Reserve last year. "Hello to Stanley from Kenya!"

Melinda was introduced to Flat Stanley when she was staying overnight in a castle in Europe. "A grandma was traveling with Flat Stanley, collecting 'flat' souvenirs to mail back home to her grandson."

There's a Flat Stanley musical and Marleen Steele invited me to the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. "If you're in Hershey (yes the town where the streets are shaped like Hershey Kisses) I'm sure Flat Stanley would be glad to have you in the audience!"

To cushion Flat Stanley's ride and to give Abigail a keepsake, I printed out photos of Flat Stanley's adventures in Florida, put them in a photo album along with the card Flat Stanley received from a book club reader and I included a letter of my own:

Dearest Abigail,

Thank you for sending Flat Stanley to visit me and my husband and our cats in Sarasota, Florida. My husband and I love it when our almost two year-old grandson Paul comes to visit, and having Flat Stanley living with us for two weeks felt like another grandson around the house. We had a wonderful time.

Flat Stanley met a lot of new friends and changed some lives. One of the 365,000 people who read my column (and who lives nearby in Florida) had a letter and some marble cheesecake delivered to my house for Flat Stanley. Reading about him must have touched something warm and kind in her heart. It was so thoughtful of her to take the time to send something special to Flat Stanley.

It's my belief that such little things in life make the biggest difference. When you smile at someone, help your neighbor pull weeds in their flower garden, say thank you when someone does something kind, put a note or a picture you drew on your Mommy or Daddy's pillow, or send your friend Flat Stanley to visit Suzanne and Bob Beecher in Florida--these are the things that people never forget. When you do the little things, you leave a big impression on someone's heart.

I hope you enjoy the photos, a memory book of Flat Stanley's visit. There is plenty of room for more pictures. I thought you might like to start putting together your own photo album. My Grandma Hale was a shutterbug (used to take all the pictures in our family) and I'm so glad she did. I love to look at pictures of myself when I was little.

Thank you again Abigail for sending Flat Stanley. My husband and I will never forget his visit. I would love to hear from you again. Please feel free to write any time. I'll write back, too!

Your friend in Sarasota,

Suzanne Beecher

To see Flat Stanley's final adventures, go to: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/flat3.html

Have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
mailto:Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

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Comments

[Kristen]

I'm really glad you enjoyed the butterfly garden at MOSI along with Flat Stanley! I'm the keeper there. One of my volunteers happens to be one of your readers and let me know about your visit.

Thanks for brining Flat Stanley to visit.

Sincerely,
Kristen Gilpin
http://lepcurious.blogspot.com/