My Thanks to Lee and Arlene Morris from Ontario, Canada, for This Amazing “Letter-In-A-Bottle” Story That Involves My Mom!
After the story above, it seems fitting that my mom is involved in the second example of gratitude – an amazing “letter-in-a-bottle” story made possible by the compassion and thoughtfulness of Lee and Arlene Morris of Ontario, Canada.
Here’s the story: Back in 2012, when my book, The Caning, was published, I obviously inscribed a copy to my mom, Rose Puleo (dad had passed away three years earlier). When my mom moved out of our family homestead and into an assisted living situation, she took the book with her. Mom died in 2022, and somehow the inscribed copy of The Caning was misplaced. Either she had donated it to the in-house library at her facility, or it had become lost when we cleaned out mom’s unit after she passed.
Enter Lee and Arlene Morris. Earlier this year, they attended a fundraising event in which several used books were on sale. They saw The Caning and bought it. When they returned home, Arlene opened the book and found my inscription written to my mother!! (See the photos below.) To Arlene’s immense credit – and my eternal gratitude – she took the time to email me (blindly) and asked: “Is this legit? Is it really the copy you inscribed to your mom?” I was totally incredulous and said – “YES! It’s my mom’s copy.” Somehow, in the strange world of used books, the copy had made its way from Burlington, Massachusetts to Ontario, Canada! I have no idea how…but I’m so grateful it ended up with the Morrises. I thanked this amazing couple a thousandfold when they offered to mail the book back to me. I sent them an inscribed copy of their own and got their permission to tell the story (and use their photo!) in this issue. How grateful am I to Lee and Arlene Morris? Let me count the ways. And as a friend of mine mused, “I wonder what your mom was trying to tell you with this gift?” I’m not exactly sure, but I am totally sure that my mom – one of the kindest people I’ve ever known – would say “God Bless” to Lee and Arlene. I’m saying it too!
