Ramblin' RET: Back to Bethlehem

Monday, December 14, 2020

Back to Bethlehem

Happy to be back to Bethlehem.

I almost didn't go this year. My colleague Lee alerted me to a recent news report that there would be no cachet stamping this year and also a good chance of no Bethlehem post mark. Last year I was crushed when I learned that my cards were postmarked "Hartford" rather than "Bethlehem."

Still, I've been traveling to Bethlehem since 1994. (I've made it there several times too).

And so I went again this year, hoping for a miracle...at Bethlehem. Maybe - perhaps - maybe I found one. Time will tell. The sign in the picture below states they will hand cancel the cards. And so I handed my bag of cards to one of the clerks and politely requested the Bethlehem postmark. She responded affirmatively. I've had miracles before at Bethlehem.

One year I drove after a snow storm only to find the post office closed. I put my bag of card in the mailbox with a note requesting the annual cachet. And a few days later I received my card with the annual cachet and Bethlehem postmark. Fantastic! It was a miracle for me.

Another year, I couldn't go on Saturday like I had normally done. So I took a day off and went on a weekday. To my surprise, I met a crippled guy working there that I knew from when I worked at Record Revolution (Parma OH) during college. Imagine that?!! Imagine the chances of running into someone like that years later? Of all places. Bethlehem. Miracles. Why not?

Postscript (Wednesday 16 Dec 2020): Mu prayer was answered in my favor. The card that I mailed to myself on Monday arrived and it had a big, red BETHLEHEM postmark (see pic below).