Peace*Love*Joy*Family - Just who are you?

The card was postmarked, in Boston, on December 19th. But it wasn't delivered, in Boston, until January 6th.

Still, better late than never. And, hey, January 6th is Little Christmas. So, Peace * Love * Joy * Family to you, too. Remind me again who your are.

The first name on the card was the Dad name. Let's call him Paul. 

I don't know a ton of Pauls, and none well enough to send me a Christmas card. 

I take that back.

I do know one Paul with whom I could conceivably exchange Seasons Greetings. But he's not a card sending friend. Plus he's Jewish. So, nah.

Then there was what I initially thought was the wife's name, a name I'd never seen before. Let's call her Terrileen. Which is not it, but she did have an "een" name I wasn't familiar with. (As an 'een' with two 'een' sisters, I thought I'd seen 'em all.)

The kids? Let's call them Amelia, Liam, and Eve.

They looked like nice kids, but none of them looked familiar. 

Paul was wearing a Red Sox cap in most of the pictures he appeared in. So that plus the Boston postmark: local. Probably. 

Still don't know him. (There are an awful lot of Red Sox cap-wearers in these parts.)

I wracked my brain. Nary a Paul in my extended family. Not someone I ever worked with. Not someone I volunteer with. Not my letter carrier. I already got his card.

I googled Paul and Terrileen, to see if I could find a couple by that name. I threw the kids' names in there, too. Nada.

Then I started looking more closely at the 13 pictures on the card.

Maybe Terrileen's not the wife. Maybe she's a daughter.

After all, the first, prime position - upper left corner - shows Paul alone, holding a cat. And most of the kiddos are pictured with Paul or with each other. 

The picture of the woman/girl in the fancy blue dress? It's not all that clear. Could be a wife. Could be a kid.

And whether there are three kids or four, I couldn't really tell. Liam's the only boy, and he rates more appearances than his two or three sisters. But the girls? I think there are three. The one with short curly hair in the band uniform; the other two with long hair. Yeah, I think there are three. But the one of the kid in the band uniform could have been Liam, smiling. 

There's only one picture in which Paul is with an obviously grown woman. Paul and grown woman, standing next to a small airplane. Why isn't she in any of the pictures with the kids? Maybe she's Terrileen, the wife-but-not-the-mom. Maybe she's Terrileen, the girlfriend. Maybe there are only two sisters, not three.

And maybe Paul is gay, a gay dad. 

If there's such a thing as "looking gay", in the picture of Paul cradling the cat, he sorta kinda looks gay-ish.

If Paul's gay, I hope he has someone. Or finds someone. He does look very nice. 

Paul. Terrileen. Amelia. Liam. Eve.

Not their names.

So why not? 

Suppose they're time-wasters like me? One of them idly googling their names might have found this post. I don't want that. Don't want to hurt any feelings by speculating that Terrileen/Amelia/Eve in the band uniform might be Liam.

Anyway, the message on the card is wishing your family love & light this holiday season! 

Same to you, whoever you are.

The card is completely blank on the flip side. No personal message to the Maureen Rogers the greeting card was intended for.

There's always the possibility, of course, that the card was meant for me. Kinda sorta.

Maybe Paul, Terrileen, et al. pick a couple of randos every year to send a mystery card to, and then have a good little family chortle wondering what the recipient makes of the mystery missive. 

It goes without saying: no return address.

Anyway, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Paul, Terrileen, Amelia, Liam, and Eve. Peace*Love*Joy*Family to you all. 

See you next year.