Mrs. Murphy and the Mysterious Postage Stamp

 

I am growing older. It’s a fact. There is no denying it. With age comes many changes. My hair is mostly silver. I have age spots and wrinkles and my body is disappointingly saggy in places. 🤨 However, the thing that I find most annoying is my change in vision! I have a very hard time reading the fine print...even with my glasses! 🤓 

Therein lies the rub. The world of postage stamps is undeniably miniature...tiny works of art with tiny print. And the older the stamp the more faded everything is. 😔

(🤔 wait...is that a metaphor?! 👵🏻) 

And it certainly doesn’t help when the Postal Service puts a big, bold cancellation mark right over the entire stamp. 😫😭

I was puzzling over one such mysterious stamp in my collection. You can imagine my delight to discover not only was the image a mystery, the subject matter was, too! 🕵️‍♂️ 

(My Mystery Stamp)

This light blue stamp was first issued on August 18, 1937 to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Colony of Roanoke Island in July 1587 and the birth of the first English child born in the New World, little Virginia Dare. 👶🏻 She was born on August 18, 1587. The Roanoke Island Colony has become known as the “Lost Colony”. No one knows exactly what happened to its 117 members. 🤔

The British, under the direction of Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I, had been attempting to establish a colony in the New World. After a first failed attempt, a second ship set sail from England on April 26, 1587. This group was unique because it included women and children. The Governor of the group was John White. He traveled with his pregnant daughter Eleanor and her husband Ananias Dare. Eleanor gave birth less then a month after their arrival in the colony. (What a woman!🤰) Baby Virginia was the first of two children known to be born in the colony. 

Life was hard and the colonists struggled to establish their homes. They begged Governor White to return to England for more supplies. He hesitantly returned to England on August 27. He had plans to return to the colony in  one year, but he was delayed and didn’t return for three years. When he finally made it back to Roanoke, all of the people had disappeared from the area!! No people, no bodies...nothing! They simply vanished.🤔

Before he left, Governor White instructed the people to carve a Maltese cross on a nearby tree if they had been forced to leave. No cross carving was found so White concluded they left of their own free will. The only clues that were ever found were the words “Croatoan” carved on a post and “Cro” on a tree. White believed that they had relocated to the Croatoan Island (Hatteras Island) but he was never able to search there. How sad for this father and grandfather to lose not only everyone in his colony but his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. 😭

Virginia Dare and the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island remain a mystery to this day! Most historians believe the colonists were taken in by a Native American tribe, but no one knows for sure. 

Is there someone in your life that is seemingly missing? Perhaps you’ve lost contact due to this most inconvenient, world-wide pandemic? Well, don’t let them disappear with out a trace like Virginia Dare!! Send them some snail mail!! 

Go postal, people!! The game is afoot!! 

XOXO, 

Mrs. Murphy 🕵️‍♀️ 

The Age of Mail

I recently received a wonderful gift from my father... his stamp collection!! (All of the un-cancelled stamps, so I can use them on my snailmail creations!!) 💌📬  As I was perusing my treasures I came across an Edith Wharton stamp.

It got me thinking about The Age of Innocence, one of my favorite books of all time. (I just recently loaned my copy to a fellow bibliophile. 🥰📚)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of it’s publication!! I first read the book back in 1994. Mr. Murphy and I had only been married a couple years. We were young, poor and in love...with each other and books. We decided to spend a little of our meager income on a classic literature book of the month club! (Yes, we are nerds.📚🧐) 

We had just seen the most recent movie version of The Age of Innocence, staring Daniel Day Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Rider. It was a beautiful movie and I loved it so much I wanted to read the book. (My favorite part of the movie was the narration by Joann Woodward. Her beautiful voice reading Edith’s lovely words!! 🥰) 

Serendipitously, The Age of Innocence  was one of our book of the month selections!! The book, of course, was even better than the film. If you’ve never read the book or seen the movie, I recommend both. The themes of societal conventions, love, marriage, scandal, innocence, hypocrisy, traditions, change and double standards are timeless and thought provoking. Edith won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for The Age of Innocence, her 12th novel, becoming the first woman to ever win it. 

I watched a documentary about Edith and was just as fascinated by the woman as I was by her work. She was so brilliant and interesting. Born in New York in 1862 to a wealthy family, Edith’s life must not have been too different from the high society families she wrote about. She opposed the oppressive feminine ideals of the time and desired to get a better education than most girls received. She read extensively and wrote poetry and fiction as a child. She wrote her first novel at the age of 11 and was first published at the age of 15!! Despite her obvious talent her family discouraged her from writing professionally. She married Edward Wharton in 1885. They both loved travel and spent time together abroad. She published a few poems, a short story, did some travel writing and wrote a two-act play during the years 1889-1901. 

At the age of 40 she published her first novel, The Valley of Decision.  After that, she really started cranking out the work. Over the next 30 years she would write numerous poems, short stories and novels. She is best known for her psychological examinations of characters dealing with changes in society. And I love the way she can turn a phrase. 🥰 🎶 

When WWI broke out she traveled to Paris to support the French war effort. She did much humanitarian work including running a workroom for unemployed women and opening a hostel for Belgian refugees. She was able to raise over $100,000 for refugee aid. At the age of 53 she started writing for Scibner’s as a war correspondent sending back reports from the front lines!! She was awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s highest honor, for her war work by the French president. 

You can still visit her famous home and gardens, The Mount, in Lennox, Massachusetts (which is on my “Literary Locations Bucket List”!!! 🤩) 

The anniversary of her death is August 11, 1937. In honor of Mrs. Wharton and the 100th anniversary of The Age of Innocence, I encourage you to read her books and write someone a letter telling them all about it!!  

Go postal, people! It’s the age of mail!!

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy 

Fruitful Mail

Even with the weirdness that is a world wide pandemic, there are still some summer blessings that I am enjoying. The fruit and vegetables in my neck of the woods have been glorious...sweet, juicy, delicious! 😋 

The USPS recently released a series of new Forever stamps featuring fruits and vegetables that got me thinking about the beauty and abundance of this summer’s harvest. The events of the day and the cultural responses have been overwhelmingly negative but these beautiful postage stamps got me thinking about the abundant life in Christ and the fruit of the Spirit. The Bible teaches that if we abide in Jesus (He is the vine and we are the branches) we will bear much fruit. We are new creatures in Christ and with the help of the Holy Spirit we can choose to respond differently to the world around us. We can choose.

“I CHOOSE LOVE…

No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…

I will invite my God to be the God of circumstances. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…

I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…

I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…

I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…

I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…

Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My spouse will not question my love. And my children will never fear that I will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…

Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL…

I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will not, rule the eternal. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control (Galatians 5:22-23). To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace.

And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest with the peace that passes all understanding.”

— Author Unknown

I came across this statement of commitment not long ago and it seemed perfect for everything that was happening in our world. I’ve been reading it over everyday and praying that the Lord would help me bear much fruit and to truly live the abundant life! 

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy