Rita's Journal

We found a NIFTS letter (Never Intended For The System) that piggybacked onto another letter. Double whammy! It was written by a woman named Susan who gave up her child for adoption. And get this: Norman was adopted! I can't believe I never knew that! His grandmother Ardis actually has been looking for him and Norman agreed to meet with her. She is such a character! Funny and larger than life... much like Norman. She thought I was Norman's girlfriend, which made me blush. We had a bit of a scare, though – Ardis had a small heart attack while she was touring the post office. (She's okay, thank God.) But you could tell that even though Norman had just met his grandmother, he's really fond of her. It broke my heart to see how worried he was for Ardis, that I just ran up to him and gave him a hug without thinking! And NORMAN HUGGED ME BACK! It made me all warm and tingling inside.

So the last couple of days have been very eventful. Not only did Shane and Oliver get trapped in a bank vault, but I WON MISS SPECIAL DELIVERY!!! It's a dream come true! I'm soooo grateful for everyone's support, especially Norman who took time out of his busy schedule to help me for the finals. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have remembered the thirteenth US government-approved modes of mail transport: mules! And when I walked down the runway with my crown and everyone singing the Miss Special Delivery song, I felt like luckiest person in the world. Not just because I won, but because I have the greatest friends a gal could every want.

We found a very disturbing lost letter that made my heart hurt. It was from a woman named Melissa who kept a horrible secret to herself for years, but because of a misunderstanding between her and her husband Michael, she had no choice but to reveal the truth about their daughter to him in a letter. But Melissa died and Michael never got the letter. Shane was able to track down Michael (she's so smart!) and we were able to talk him out of doing something really, really, bad... And because of it, we all won Dark of Night Awards! It was such a beautiful reception and I'm so proud of each and every one of us! Norman looked especially dashing in his suit. He took my breath away! And he bought me an Arnold Palmer with an umbrella! Oh, and I really need to practice walking in heels more...

Today a woman from Washington D.C. brought a photographer to the DLO to take photos of me for Mail Monthly Magazine because I won Miss Denver Main Branch. It was awkward at first, because I wasn't expecting it. (I would have dressed up more if I'd known.) But after a while, I started having fun. Oh, and turns out the woman, Rebecca, is friends with Shane! Rebecca calls Shane “Shaney.” Norman said he could never call me “Reets,” but I told him I wouldn't mind. We found a CD in the “Small Unattached Items” bin. On it is a man singing a beautiful love song. Shane sent Norman and I to the recording studio where the song was recorded -- just the two of us! Our first mission in the field together! Norman was so cute, dusting off fingerprints on that guitar...

We have a new supervisor at work: Glynis Rucker. At first I thought she was nice, but turns out she's SCARY. Her daughter is trying out for Miss Special Delivery and Glynis told me that she would squash me like a bug! But I'm not that scared, because I have good friends who support me. Shane gave me a makeover and Norman said I was like a tree lobster – unsquashable. Norman always knows what to say. Oliver told me he was very proud of me and to be true to myself. Oliver is such a great leader... I hope he's okay, though. He threw out the Paris box and wore a four-in-hand knotted tie instead of a Windsor knot on Wednesday. Very alarming. Remember that new friend I made, Kimmi Cooper? Turns out she's also competing for Miss Special Delivery and was only talking to me because she was trying to scout out her competition! Who knew pageants were so cut-throat? Anyway, we got a lost letter that was found inside a school desk – it's a letter written by a girl named Ellie who wrote a letter to her future self! Isn't that neat? I should write a letter to my future self... Mrs. Norman Dorman! Silly, I know. But Norman and I did pretend to be engaged when we were at City Hall trying to find out if Ellie and her boyfriend Bobby obtained a marriage license. It felt really, really nice...

My friends at work found out that I'm applying for the Miss Special Delivery pageant and they are so thrilled! I already answered all the questions on the application form and finished my essay, but I still don't know what I'm going to put down for the talent section. I can't sing, or dance, or play the piano, and I don't think having a photographic memory is enough... is it? Oliver suggested I do a rousing speech, something by Benjamin Franklin, our first postmaster general. But I don't know if speeches are my thing... We found a lost urn in the DLO with ashes of a mother named Maggie who wrote letters to her daughters Caitlyn and Vanessa before she died. We were able to find Caitlyn and Vanessa, but since Maggie's letter didn't specify who gets her ashes, Oliver and Shane had to follow clues in the letters and go on a scavenger hunt in order to deliver the ashes to the proper recipient. Norman and I stayed behind to figure out my talent for Miss Special Delivery. I must admit, I was excited to be alone with Norman, even though it makes my palms sweaty. When I was practicing roller-skating while delivering mail, I accidentally fell, but Norman caught me! It was very romantic! And I think he was going to kiss me, but then he got distracted when he found a stamp on the floor...

We learned that our supervisor Cora retired from the post office so that she could write her memoirs. But before she left, she told me that she loved my book "Renita Hayweather: Frontier Duchess" and said I had a best-seller! That's super exciting, except for the fact that I think she also figured out that my lead characters resemble Norman and I. If Norman ever read what I wrote, I would be sooooo embarrassed!!! Sigh. Anyway, speaking of Norman, he found a lost package stuck inside the conveyer. (Norman's very mechanical.) Turns out the package contained a painting from a man named Danny who was trying to mail it to his father Henry. We found out that Danny died in a fire a few years ago and his dad never knew. It was really sad. But the good news is that Henry has a daughter-in-law and a baby granddaughter! I hope they'll get to meet in person soon and make up for lost times.

I was so inspired by our last supervisor, Theresa, that I decided to bring in copies of my manuscript "Renita Hayweather: Frontier Duchess" to work for people to read. Cora Brandt, our new supervisor, said she would be the first person to read my book. I really wanted Oliver, Shane, and Norman to read it too, but everyone was so busy working on our latest lost letter. (Actually that's a good thing, because Shane pointed out to me that I accidentally based my book on me and Norman! Rita/Renita? Norman/Mr. D'Lorman? How did I not see that?!) The letter was a lost love letter from a man named Sam to his childhood sweetheart Marie. We started talking about love and soulmates, and Norman revealed that he's been in love before and believes in soulmates, too! I wanted to ask him about it, but it didn't feel appropriate. Maybe when the time is right, I could bring it up to him again... Oh, and we found out that Oliver's taking dance lessons! It's that fun? I offered to be his dance partner, but he said that Shane already agreed to do it. Oh well, maybe next time...

We found a letter written by a young Afghanistan woman named Samila looking for the American solider who saved her. What she wrote in that letter about what happened to her was simply harrowing, and Buzz, the soldier who saved her, was a hero. So it was extremely important for us to find Buzz and reunite him with Samila. Norman and I helped our supervisor, Theresa Capodiamonte, with her lines for her performance in The Wizard of Oz. She did such a great job as Glinda and had so much fun that she QUIT THE POST OFFICE to pursue her dream in show business! She's such an inspiration, I wish I was as brave as her! Before she left, she told me that I have a “Technicolor future” and I should be bold and follow my dream, too. I'm going to miss her...

Met our new supervisor, Theresa Capodiamonte. She's a legend in the postal world and turns out she knew Oliver's grandfather! And she can DANCE! She was there when we found a lost letter written by a boy named Owen addressed to "Gramma." We went to the retirement home to find "Gramma" in order to deliver Owen's letter. There I met a sweet old lady named Shirley who told me that she suspected her fiancé was abducted by aliens the night before their wedding. Also, she's klepto. She reminded me of my mom... Anyway, we finally found Owen's grandmother, Vivian, because I remembered seeing the wind-chimes made from spoons in her room! We learned that Owen and his family are in the witness protection program and that Owen (actually his real name is Casey) was in danger! We were able to save the day – Norman was really excited to get to use his field kit and go "undercover." He's very brave. When it was all over, Vivian made us her famous banana pancakes. Yummy!