A Service Dog gives a person with a disability independence. Never approach, distract or pet a working dog, especially when (s)he is in harness. Never be afraid to ask questions to the handler (parent). 17 Oct 2015 12:11:43am
re: Auxilary Markings
{A bit off topic} I had the privilege of meeting a priest from the Netherlands who had been a friend and confidant of Edith Stein (a Jewish convert to Roman Catholic and became a Carmelite nun). I happened to locate him after reading his foreword to a book about her and after some searching based on the location mentioned in the book, I discovered he lived only a few hours from my parents. I wrote him and asked if I could meet him. He enthusiastically invited me for tea while I was home from school. He even gave me copies of personal letters and writings between the two of them he had shared. She was killed in Auschwitz. He last saw her a few days before she was deported. I returned to Chicago a week later and immediately wrote him a letter of thanks. I was absolutely stunned to receive the letter back about 3 weeks later stamped "Receiver Dead" - wow. First, I certainly didn't find it comforting at all to receive such news in a shocking manner. I counted my blessings that I had the opportunity to sit down for tea with this brilliant scholar and see him talk about his friendship with Edith Stein and then find out he passed away less than a week after I met him. And to think I met him only by chance of reading a book in which he wrote the foreword.
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"Let's find a cure for Still's Disease, Breast Cancer and Canine Addison's Disease. We CAN find a cure and save lives!!"
"Dead" is a bit abrupt.Why not use the euphemism "deceased" ? Means the same, but more acceptable somehow. Bearing in mind that it is personal communication the latter term would be a little more sensitive.
I would like to think that the British Post Office would be a little more circumspect, but no doubt someone will post here to prove me wrong.
We avoid "deceased" for a number of reasons. First, if someone has "ceased" to have "DEceased" would be to "un"cease or re-animate. This happens on some American TV stations, but I haven't seen them address the philatelic aspects; hell there's not even a single mail carrier who survived the initial onslaught. So much for the Walking Deceased.
Second dead is the root of DEceAseD; all those extra letters are, I don't know, unnnnnecessssary. We were thinking of giving them to the Welsh, who are always short of the right sorts of letters.
Finally, given that we have dead letter offices, it seemed appropriate to carry on the postal tradition, although we could try to rename it the Deceased Letter Office. We've been successful in changing the meanings of other words, like MINT, for instance, why not word itself and keep the meaning.
DEAviD
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 21 Oct 2015 11:30:58am
re: Auxilary Markings
David, you have wayyyyyy too much time on your hands!
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
Ningpo,
I just realized your cover is addressed to the same person on the same day and time. I also have two other covers with the same return address as these two. There probably is a story here, maybe a stamp or marking collector?
Errm, I don't quite know how to break this to you but... my cover was a spoof. I took your cover and replaced the 'Probably dead....' bit with an extract from a famous Monty Python comedy sketch.
I'm sorry if this misled you. Maybe you're just too young to recognise the connection!
Now I get It!
I should have recognized my cover. Not just the address' were the same but everything was!
I am a fan of British humor, my wife not so much.
I do have a couple of "deceased" covers in my hoard. I remember having a few first day covers that were sent to patients in a veteran's hospital back in the 1950s that were marked this way. Those are sad!
I do a big mailing every January for my hobby show. I can count on getting a bunch of return to senders and the variety of markings are interesting so I save them. I've gotten back handwritten notes from families informing us that someone has passed on, in a friendly way since they know that our event was enjoyed by their relative.
My favorite was a return to sender with a handwritten "He's in jail". No doubt written by some upset relative.
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