How an Email Invitation to a Colorado Christmas Dinner Ended Eight Years of Separation

“Mailed December twelfth, eight years ago.”

“Look at the signature line on the return card,” Sam said, pointing his pencil at the lower right corner of the screen.

The signature wasn’t Ethan’s neat cursive but a bold, blocky scrawl in permanent black marker.

“That’s Sergeant First Class Miller,” I said, reading the typed military rank under the ink.

“He was Ethan’s unit adjutant.”

“So the mail reached his building,” Sam said.

“He didn’t lose the mail,” I said.