No apologies! This is a super emotional incident and you're handling it just fine. It's perfectly appropriate to be upset, you had a lot of love invested in that box. It will be located and moved on it's way to your soon-to-be grand. Don't mourn the loss just yet.

Oh, that really stinks. I can image how you feel.

I have save most of dd's childhood books too. As a matter of fact, I had one out a few weeks ago and read part of it over the phone to her. We were both cracking up!

I bet there is still a good chance the box might show up. Don't lose hope yet!

Oh, Trailrunner, that is just plain bad luck! So very disappointing to lose what you so lovingly saved over so many years. Of course you feel very sad about this. I'm with pesky and deedee- don't give up hope yet- the box might still be found.

Don't give up hope yet! However, since you have a list of all the books, how about starting to build up your collection again at yard sales and used book stores. Take your list with you and start crossing of the books you find. Maybe you could have just as much of adventure building your library back up the second time as you did the first. Just a thought.....

I am so sorry and feel you pain! Just the other day DD and I sat on the guest room floor going through all the many boxes of their special childhood books that I've saved for them over the years. We had a wonderful time reminiscing as we separated them into ones going to DS and those for DD's someday kids. We were also putting them into small, safer, waterproof bins. Like you, our special books are treasures and it breaks my heart to hear that yours/theirs may be lost. Take heart in the fact that you have the title of each missing book written down. It, hopefully, will make it easier for postal workers to find them. I truly hope so! Please let us know how this turns out, will you?
Lynn

Oh C, I am so sad about that missing box!!!! I know they are just "things" in the grand scheme of things, but their loss hurts still hurts deeply.

(((HUGS)))

Don't give up hope - it will turn up. Maryland is not that big! I'll keep my eye out for it and my fingers crossed :)

What an awful thing to have happen.
Just a thought...they won't be the books you saved from your children's childhood, but many of us go to garage sales and thrift stores and if we had a list of the books that were lost we just might get lucky and find some replacements for you.
I would feel just horrible if it had happened to us.

I'll say some prayers that the box is found. Mail delivery is crazy sometimes, but maybe a delay does not mean lost forever.

Several times a week for the past six months, I have been mailing packages via the USPS. Only one package has been lost. Since it wasn't insured, there was no way to track it, and after waiting for several weeks, I assumed it was gone. Then, out of the blue two months later, it arrived at its destination.

The bigger the box, the more likely it will be found. Don't give up hope just yet.

Oh you guys....you make me cry.

pesky: I don't think I am handling it very well but you are so sweet to boost me on.

deedee : I can just imagine you doing that with your DD as we have done the same. Thank you for making me smile.

nancy: thank you for another vote of confidence...I truly think that all these good wishes will help.

geo: you sound like DH. I have looked on half.com and will probably be able to get most of them again...postage is the big culprit there though. So I will have to think about how to make this work. Most are classics and won't be too hard to find again. You are kind to talk of making new memories...that is the right attitude. thank you.

lynne: we had such a good time on the phone with DS1 when he got the 1st box. He was exclaiming over all that was in it...on and on about how he remembered his Dad or I reading this one and that one to him. So it isn't the actual book that is important ...it is the memory of the times we had...I can make this work...all it takes is time and money. I am so glad you and your DD were able to share too. Thank you for another vote of confidence. I will keep all posted.

cat: thank you and ((( ))) back at you. :)

maureen: hard to think that the post office could have a box break open...that is one scenario they presented to me...and have 100 books fall to the floor and no one stop/pick up/grab the box....do something. I think it is stacked somewhere...you let me know if you get to Capitol Heights...that is the last place it was seen :)

mona: what a kind and generous thing to suggest ! Wow...that would be too splendid . If after a couple months the box is still gone I may well take you up on it. This just confirms what we have all said about our little community here on " this side"...you are ALL the best.

graywings: I am glad to hear that story. I too thought the size would be a help...not like one lost letter. I do believe they are afraid of me LOL...tearful crazy Alabama woman wants her box. Liable to read about me on the news.

I hate that this is happening when the postal workers are under so much stress already...the news today made me sad for them. There are a lot worse things going on everywhere. You have all made me feel more positive . I am glad I shared with you...I felt " dumb" but I do feel better now. Thank you . c

I love mona's idea!

I'm sorry, C. I hope someone finds the box and it arrives fashionably late... but before it's a story fit for the 6 o'clock news.

DD2 had her baby mid August. One of the last things she asked me to help her look for (me look for really) were some of her old books. I'm happy to say they are in the nursery.

I have to say I know how you feel, more or less. DD1 had some fabulous projects from college she was saving that got lost in a move. Along with a few pink poodles I had given her after she moved away for college. She moves too often. Things are bound to get lost. :(

Mona has inspired me. Why not list the books( 100 or so?) here. Each responder will take one o more books and so on. Example: I post and say I'll take The Wind in the Willows, Mona takes the Narnia series and so on. Wait. Oh shoot! I am not a good organizer of ideas. Where would we send them? I just love this idea, though. Think what a wonderful tale your son would have for his children! These books all coming from a community of strangers from all over, who came together because of their caring for one another and mutual love of books and children. Is there a way we can do this?

Here's my spin on saving anything made of paper for too long. I saved 10 years of this magazine I liked and then one day I decided it was time to get rid of it but not before going through it one last time in case there was a picture or article I wanted to tear out. Well I sneezed and sneezed going through the pages till I had to stop. They had been protected from dust, why was I having an allergy attack? I mentioned this odd occurance to a friend who told me dust mites &/or mold can accumulate in old books, magazines, etc. I saw no mold, we have a dry climate. Could it really be those microspopic critters? I have allergies but I have NEVER sneezed reading a magazine, not a current one that is. There's something in the paper that wasn't there before. I've saved my mother's collection of books but I can't read them, that smell, ick.

Where young children are concerned I think NEW books are the way to go. Nostalgia is one thing but let's think health of the child for a moment. Hopefully you can find the same stories you had saved but on newly printed paper just in case the child has allergies. This could be a blessing in disguise, who knows. It may have saved the kid from developing an allergy from Grandma's musty old books.

I meant to say my magazine collection starts at 20 years old and goes for 10 years so the newest issue is 10 years old.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that they find your box. Did you also have your address inside the box in case something happened to the mailing label? We've heard all kinds of odd stories about mail that made a few unexpected and unexplained stops along the way. Yours may still arrive.

There are only a few books (maybe 20 or so) that I saved from my children's collection and we had many. Most of them seemed to disintegrate by the time #3 finished reading them. The rest were just not worth retaining.

If if makes you feel any better remember that it was the time you spent reading with your children that is important. Remember the bond you shared with each story and the love of reading that was inspired. None of that was lost. All those memories are safe and will come alive again when your DS reads to his child.

Don't give up hope. You sent the books media mail? It is less expensive but sending it that way makes the box the post office equivalent of the red headed step child. Normal media mail can take up to eight business days. Add the hurricane issues on top that and it's no surprise that it's in a pile being ignored.

It's lost right now but I have a feeling it will turn up. : )

allison: congratulations ! I am so glad the baby is here and the books are safe with her. Yes moving takes it toll on things for sure.

leahcat: you are sweet sweet ....I think it would be impossible but what a story indeed. Let's hope that the box shows up :) What a good story though.

ff: I am sorry your old mags were in such a state. I am SO lucky that we don't have any " musty old books. LOL. They were / are all in great condition...some wrinkled and loose in the binding. Old books and used book stores are the only way we do things...but thank you for your thoughts.

mc: the memories are surely the MOST important thing....I can get the books back one way or another...thank you for another positive boost in the right direction.

deee: I sure hope you are right !! I know what the power of positive air waves has done before on this forum so I am counting on it here !! Thank you :)

Awe, I'm so sorry. I haven't been able to read all of the other comments but like the others, I don't think it's silly or insignificant at all. Quite the opposite really. I equate your loss to the loss of a hope chest or any other special thing carefully saved for those special moments in our kids lives. Those books aren't just like any other book you can buy online, they are treasures and represent something very special. They are irreplaceable. EVERY mother deserves that experience of passing on something like that to their kidss I sincerely hope the Post Office has success in finding that box. It may take a while but don't give up hope.

More positive energies coming that that very precious package is found and safely delivered. I thought that usually things with a DC number could be tracked from station to station? So they'd have an idea of where it was last seen? Just keep hope alive...

lukki: we have been on the phone with them...urging them to " look harder" . We'll see...you are right they are treasures. thank you ...

fly: thank you for your power added to the rest ! Yes they know where it was last touched...they stamp the DC by hand at each point. No one seems to know where it went after it was stamped on Aug 26th at 8:26 PM...weird huh ? Hope is alive...sorta. c

I agree, it's too early to give up. I'm also sending positive energy for all the books to arrive at their appointed destination, asap! Impermanence is a basic tenet of Buddhism. All is constantly in flux, changing, in process. I hope your books are "in process" of getting to Lexington!

As for the Buddhist stance on non-attachment, one could also say that to cultivate that (an ongoing process, yes?) one first needs to cultivate awareness; to be awake.

You are in touch with what is going on within you. Without adding anything to that (self-judgement, etc.) your emotional honesty is moving you in the right direction. Solidarity with all who have suffered loss results. Your compassion is heightened & your sensititivity to others' pain deepened further.

Simply allowing & observing how much pain there is for you around an event stretches you, and can become a part of your "practice." Pema Chodron says, "Transformation occurs only when we remember, breath by breath, year after year, to move toward our emotional distress without condemning our experience. Our practice is to stay with it, to experience it, to leave it as it is."

Emotional upheaval is not a spiritual faux pas; it's the place where we learn compassion. Namaste.

Thank you SG...I learned a long time ago to be " with" my distress as I would rather feel something than nothing. You are certainly correct in that it heightens the awareness of others and increases the ability to " walk in another's shoes" . People who wish for perfect calm and peace in their lives are doomed to failure. It is like the old saying you have to have rain to have flowers. I appreciate the positive energy from you too ! Practicing mindfulness is definitely a part of my day. c

Media mail is notoriously slow. I've received packages that took 1 MONTH to get to me...within the state! It's a joke how inefficient things have become. Eventually it'll turn up. Whenever I think I've lost something I remind myself of an expression my mother always said, "Don't cry over anything that can't cry over you".

Ha ha! I like your mother's words of wisdom Flyinflower! Never heard that before, but it sure makes good sense.

Trailrunner, thanks for your reply. Very well said. I know you are a fine example of living life mindfully and compassionately. I've learned so much from your posts. Not only through the things you say, but also through the pics of your adventures, which tell us a lot about you too! You're an amazing woman.

Lots of people are thinking, wishing, hoping & praying about those books!

The only other thing that helps me at times like this is to assume that the lost object ends up in the hands of someone who needed it more than I (or the person for whom it was intended.) We never know what's going on behind the scenes, do we?

Still, let's hope they arrive in Lexington ASAP!

Is the baby a boy or girl? Is a name picked out?

Just read this thread-well, skimmed most responses.

I am also sending good energy and hoping the books are found. Around here, our true treasures are our books, especially those from childhood, either our son's or our own. Could you share your list? If I come across any at sales, I will be glad to pick them up and send along to you! :)

Yes, media mail is extremely slow and also at the mercy of the mood of the mailmen. I hope it gets where it's going soon, and I think it may yet arrive.

I have an attic full of old toys and books waiting for grandchildren, but I have a feeling that even if my sons ever do produce kids, I will be too old to enjoy them. Congrats on your new grandchild.

ff....you are right...when I combine that sentiment with the possibility that someone has the box and will take care of all the books as SG points out...it makes it easier. I will keep waitin'...hear me USPS !!!

SG....what a kind and thoughtful response. You are the one that can be counted upon to be so insightful. I learn from you all the time. Thank you for your lovely note. Tonight at our meditation group someone said..." life is full of surprises"....and I said " well no it isn't" ....we had a lively discussion as to why or why not life is a surprise :) I sure wish you had been there.

The baby is a BOY ! And they have a name but due to some comments by the other parents the kids are keeping their final choice a secret. I told them we would never judge their choice but they are feeling a little sensitive so I am fine with that. It is their choice and their baby..not mine .

cyn: I know what you mean...we have a houseful of books we love.All our kids are real book worms thanks to us. We will give it a couple more weeks and then I sure will take you up on posting the list. It is LONG !! You are so kind too :) Thank you.

ded: I know what you mean , these 2 never planned to have kids. I am so glad they changed their minds. DD would love to have a houseful...but the shortage of GOOD guys in Atlanta is a problem...anyone know someone wonderful and gainfully employed..about 30 or so ....tall...sweet natured...loves puppies...

Thank you again...I feel so much better than I did when I posted this. Sharing my feelings and then getting such wonderful feedback from you all has made such a difference. This really is a very special community. c

(side note: I've decided that 'stinky' is actually a committee. No one could have *all* that wisdom!)

Good point flyleft, unless she merely has many past lives and incarnates all that wisdom accumulated over the ages.

Well first let me tell you something that might make you feel a little bit better -

Around valentine's day I sent a package priority mail including a few little things and a completely handmade valentine. I sent it priority mail to a location about 3.5 hours away by car. I figured it would take a day or two at most. And I tracked it. I watched it go through about 6 or 7 sorting facilities over the course of 3 weeks on the website, went into the PO where I was told that it would get there eventually, they couldn't do anything about my mis-routed package and that was that. For the last week or so there was NO tracking information (I didn't insure it because the value was in my time, not the monetary cost of the item). Then one day it showed up.

It was a small package that took a tour of the US. Sometimes things get mis-routed and it takes a while for them to get back on the right track. A 32lb box is not so small that it is going to get caught in some machine and completely trashed or just fly to the winds. It is sitting SOMEWHERE in the system and someone will notice it at some point and move it along.

In the meantime, don't beat yourself up for your feelings. It's not productive. I would try to not grieve preemptively and give it a little more time but you seem to be worried that you are petty because you care about "things." We all have sentimental attachment to "things" and it doesn't make us bad people - only if we place those things above people do we have a problem with our priorities.

Congrats on your upcoming grandbaby!

Definitely don't lose hope. I sent DD a pkg thru USPS over to Italy. No way to track after it left the US. Pkg never arrived. The day I went back to the post office to talk to the postmaster (after DD was back home - 4 mos later), he found that the package was sitting at the main post office. A week later it was delivered back to me, postage due!

I am hoping your package is found. Don't let them tell you they can't find a package. They can find approximately, at the very least, where it was last scanned.

Congrats on your new grandson to be!

Thank you for the kind words, Trailrunner, Flyleft & Maire Cate!

It's always interesting to me how people respond to different expressions of spirituality. We've all noticed that ideas that are of real interest & value to some, simply hold no meaning for others.

Maybe we connect with truths that are already within us. If a phrase, sentence, book or idea is powerful, it's because it resonates with what we already know; what's within us, & simply "sparks" that inner knowing.

Trailrunner, so you're going to have a grandson! I look forward to learning his name in October...you can tell us what it is then, yes?

Your "meditation group" sounds great! Do you ever host it in that wonderful house of yours?

kg: what a story...a tour of the US...I talked to my postman this morning as he did his route. He is upset for me but of course has no " finger" in this pie except to sympathize. He did say that he bet I would never send anything again with the USPS after this..I just shook my head and said probably not. You are right about the feelings of attachment...wouldn't be human if we didn't care about things as well as people. There was a study done about the mental health of children that played with and loved their stuffed animals. They were very very well adjusted , able to care for an inanimate object. So nothing wrong at all with my feelings...thank you for reaffirming.

wip: another great story about the USPS>..love that YOU owed postage sigh LOL. I am not giving up yet .

SG: I think you hit the nail on the head. Resonates with what we already " know" is a good way of putting it. Sometimes we read or hear things and we just feel it inside where it belongs. Our group is newly formed and evolving. We have a little reading at the beginning and then do 45 minutes and then talk at the end. 2x a week. Wed at 5:45 PM and Sunday at 8:45 AM. Wish you could come....

I sure will share the new baby's name ! You are all so kind and caring...can't say that enough. He is due on Halloween...definitely a treat !!

Got to get out and finish the yard work...first nice and cool day we have had in weeks and the ground is nice and wet from all the rain so the weeds are coming out nicely. DH is being my big helper today :) later...c

(((((C,)))))
I just want to say I am sorry about the lost box of treasured books and I am hopeful it will turn up.

No sign yet. The supervisor from the Lexington VA post office is out on the road till tomorrow. He has been visiting the " plants" etc in the area. I hope he has been on the look out for " the box". We are to call him tomorrow and get an update. So frustrating. Thank you Holly ! c

I had to check back in here to see if the box had shown up yet, Trailrunner. I'm disappointed for you that it hasn't but hope that this supervisor will find it, safe and sound.
Lynn

I also keep checking in - hoping to see that the box was delivered!

Flyingflower: "Don't cry over anything that can't cry over you". I LOVE THIS and will use the line with my kids.

I can relate to NOT wanting to share a name until the baby is born. I know people mean well, but a few people said "Yuck" to a few of the names I had selected, so I stopped talking about it. I figured that nobody would say a name was bad once it is given. However, my sister videotaped my husband's announcement to the waiting room when my first son was born (the gender was unknown).

DH: It is late but the doctor said you can all come back if you're quiet.

My Mom: How are they?

My Sister: Is it a boy or girl?

DH: Boy!

All: Cheers, Yippee, etc. Camera is swinging on my sisters arm at this point so all I have is the audio, with a swirling picture of the floor and ceiling.

All: What's his name?

DH: Jackson

MIL: JACKSON!? As in, "What kind of a name is 'Jackson'"?

At about 4:00 AM the next morning DH and I both decided that "Jackson" didn't feel right so we selected a different name. To this day I'm not sure if my MIL's reaction had anything to do with that though.

I just got off the phone with the 800 number for the USPS complaints. It is a major undertaking to get through...suffice to say that I had to play tricks with the voice thing and finally got a real person. She said the outside date of delivery was the 6th so it is definitely " lost". She took down all the data and said I will get a call within 2 business days from an investigator. So now I have locals as well as " who knows" working on this. I am about to drive up there myself. I actually told the lady in Lexington that i was coming...and she was very silent on the phone yesterday LOL. Since it is a Federal agency guess I better watch out :) c

Trail, the more and more I've thought about your situation, the more angry I became. It's not that you hand picked each book and saved them for your future grandkids, it's the fact that they have your own precious babies little handprints all over them, possible crayon marks and a lot of memories. Part of THEM is lost, KWIM?

Even new books can't replace those. :( So keep on it!

Kind of reminds me when my oldest son was 5. We were gone and someone broke into our shed. It was obvious they tried taking the riding tractor/mower but they couldn't get it out. As we looked around to see what was stolen I noticed my son's little Snoopy fishing pole was gone, along with our's.

It broke my heart knowing some ADULT person stole this from a precious 5 year old!

I'm sure the box will turn up. I'm on friendly terms with my Post Master and I asked him about this yesterday. He said media mail could take anywhere from 10-14 days and even longer with the bad weather. He also said that sometimes when they're busy, you'll get workers who say they've looked for something but they haven't. Plus a heavy package in a bulk mail center may sit for a while. Have faith.

I once sent a postcard from Paris to my parents in L.A. It arrived over a year later, having languished somewhere in Africa along the way. It was profoundly more well-traveled than I by the time it arrived.

Oakley that is terrible ! What a mean spirited thing to do. I don't even want to think about the things that were taken when we were robbed decades ago...I will keep on the USPS :)

chick: what a sweet thing to do !! It has been since Aug 19th and that was a Friday. The lady today said the last date that they calculate it should have been delivered is Sept 6th...so now they do consider it lost. I think I have their attn LOL. I am using up all our cell minutes on this . I will keep plugging along and phoning and may still pay a visit to the post office up there.

KD...seriously ??? A year ! Well occasionally we see this :

Here is a link that might be useful: lost letter delivered...

Hey - at least her postcard was delivered! Two of my daughter's college applications are still missing and they were sent 'overnight delivery' and delivery confirmation. All we know is that they were accepted at the Post Office desk - there's no record of them after that. For all I know they fell behind the counter and have been laying there undiscovered since they were mailed in ............

..................2001!

And isn't it ironic the post office is struggling severely right now? Gee, I wonder why?!

Twice a week for the past three weeks we've been getting mail for a neighbor a mile away!

And UPS is no better. I had a $10 off coupon for one of those large Jar Candles from Yankee Candle. I ordered one for Christmas for my DIL since the coupon was dated. The candle came and the whole candle melted in the lid! YC sent me a free replacement candle. It came yesterday and the same thing happened.

And most of the boxes I get from UPS are practically smashed.

Just checking for some good news. Anything yet?

The only thing I can add is that I sell books on Amazon and eBay, and ship them via Media Mail, and occasionally one takes forever to get to its destination. Most arrive fairly quickly, but I can remember two occasions where things got to the point where I offered to issue a refund. And then--voila!--the book showed up. I wish this for you.

Me too alisande...me too. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I started another thread so will post there when I get updates. c