The End of Flat Stanley...

So long story.
"FS" as we call him in the fam, is a done deal.
Poor FS, no more exploring the world, but what a life he led.
So here is the abbreviated long story (my blog, can do what I want).
We all know my sweet sister, Donna passed away a little over 4 years ago, leaving 3 beautiful girls under the age of 18.
The youngest, Evann who was 8 at the time did a school project a few months after her mommy passed away.
The kids read a book about "Flat Stanley".
See link ~ not my story.
So out of all thousand of her aunts and uncles she selects ME to mail her FS to.
I am supposed to take him places, show him the ropes, take pics, take notes and mail him back to her.
Ok, we take him to Pismo Beach.

We take him to Avila Beach.

We send him on a plane with a pilot friend to the East Coast and El Salvador.

We take him to a friend's house.

We take him all over.

We take him to Mexico.






This is where I fail at being a good aunt.
We try to take him from Mexico back to the USA.
Well we do take him from Mexico back to the USA.
We just don't check him back through immigration properly.
In fact we don't remove him from the plane.Damn seat back pockets.
We forget him on the plane.
I forget him on the plane.
Flying waitress will not allow me back on the plane to check the damn seat back pocket.
Flying waitress will not allow me to go through the trash as they remove it from the plane.
Me?
Sick to my stomach.
Here this 8 year old entrusted me, the aunt who watched her being born by c-section at 3 am, with FS and I leave him in the damn seat back pocket on a stupid plane.
So... what to do?
By the time I got home from LAX I had it all figured out.
Wrote Evann a long letter about all of Flat Stanley's travels and adventures.
Included loads of pictures.
Except these.
I did not include these pictures.



For obvious reasons.

Wrote that FS made a big decision on that plane.
The decision to see the world.
Travel.
Fly.
Bus.
Sail.
Hike.
See the world.
And that FS would mail postcards to her from all of his stops.
So emailed everyone I knew in the world asking for postcards out of their drawers, out of their garages, out of whereever they were.
And within days I had a mailbox full of blank postcards.
FS was on his way.
Started in Ventura.
Went to Spain.
England.
Montana.
Florida.
Tibet.
Nepal.
India.
Bought postcards in thrift stores and antique stores.
Wisconsin.
New York.
Costa Rica.
Peru.
Oregon.
Started buying postcards on ebay.
France.
Scotland.
Canada.
New Orleans.
Key West.
Miami.
Washington.
Caribbean.
Hawaii.
Maine.
Countries I had never heard of.
Nova Scotia.
Brazil.
Argentina.
Arizona.
Nevada
Germany.
Italy.
Belgium.
Spain.
Pretty much everywhere.
Went there.
Saw that.

So after about 3 years of me researching places and writing postcards full of amusing facts and amazing places I was getting tired.
My hand was getting tired.

I wanted to make an old man paper doll and mail him back.
Long beard.
Long hair.
Wrinkles.
Worn out jeans.
Faded UCLA sweatshirt.


But instead I wrapped up this giant box of written and un-written postcards and gave them to Evann for Christmas.


Thanks to all of our wonderful friends with the postcard help :)