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London — Britain’s postal service, the Royal Mail, was able to work out who an unaddressed letter was meant for when the sender included only the recipient’s first name, postcode, and “life story.”
“Feargal, lives across the road from the Spar, his Ma + Da used to own it, his mother was Mary + Da, Joseph, moved to Waterfoot after he got married, plays guitar and used to run discos in the parochial hall and the hotel in the 80’s. Friends with the fella runs the butchers in Waterfoot too,” the address section said. The postal code was also included, which at least put it in the right neighborhood in Northern Ireland.
A postman in the local sorting office said he was able to immediately identify who the letter was meant for.
“One of the sorters said: ‘Look at this this, do you know who it is?'” postal worker Fergus McAllister told CBS News partner network BBC News. “I said ‘I know exactly who it’s for,’ and he said: ‘I feel like I know him, too, for his whole life story is on the front.”
Feargal Lynn, the recipient of the letter, had started writing to people to help lift their spirits during the coronavirus pandemic. During that time, a friend of his visited his town and they met up and talked about work pressure and mental health. Feargal told her about his letters, and she asked him to write her one.
Seeking to avoid any stressful topics, he sent her a note about coleslaw, but didn’t include a return address.
When the letter with Feargal’s life story arrived at his home, “it was a very simple one-liner on looking after mental health. And then she went straight in to this amazing coleslaw recipe and a note about kaleslaw.”
Feargal said he was glad that his efforts to keep his and others’ spirits up during difficult times had worked.
“Men in particular need to be straight and honest and say ‘I’m not ok.’ It’s about finding something to take you away from that.”
