This is the very sad story of how, back in 1999, the Post Office managed to lose virtually all of my femme possessions - an un-intentional purge if you will. 

I was deeply saddened by the loss because there were many items that had great sentimental value for me, since they were intimately connected with Jennie's creation and life up to that point.

In August 1999, I had the opportunity to go to L.A. and visit my friends Gina and Laurie. I decided to ship my femme belongings to myself at my hotel (a technique to avoid the risks of packing femme clothes in my suitcase). I found a sturdy cardboard box and proceeded to load it up with all my stuff: clothes, forms, hip pads, make-up, wig, faux jewelry, etc. The box held more than I expected, and to stop the stuff rattling around, I used more clothes until it was full. I took it to the Fed Ex office and sent it 2nd Day. When I got to the hotel, my package was waiting for me - exactly what you'd expect from Fed Ex (or UPS). For the return journey, the process had to be a little different. Fed-Ex will not deliver to a P.O. Box, so I had to use a different carrier (UPS, Airborne) or the USPS. Well, there was a main Post Office not far from the hotel, and I didn't need to get the box back in any great hurry, so I opted for the USPS. I had an early flight the day after our night-clubbing, so Gina kindly said she would mail it for me. I parceled everything up with industrial strength packing tape on all the seams of the box, and put two address labels with Jennie's name on it. I didn't know what to put as a sender's address, incase there were any difficulties. If it had even crossed my mind that there was a possibility of my box going missing I would have paid the extra and sent it "Express Mail" which can be tracked. But that awful prospect never entered my naive little mind. Fortunately, Gina had the presence of mind to insure the package, but since I had never mentioned the value of the contents, she only put $250 of insurance on it.

Fast-forward a week, and there was still no sign of the package in my PO Box. I called the 800 ASK USPS number and was told that there was nothing they can do, and I would have to wait 30 days before filing a claim. Being the eternal optimist, I checked the PO Box almost every day for 30 days, and to my bitter disappointment nothing ever showed up. At that point I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I wouldl never see my possessions again. I had to get a "form 1000" from the post office in order to file the claim. That process made me realize that I could be getting myself into trouble. First of all, the USPS wants names, addresses and phone numbers for both the sender and the addressee. I put my male name as the sender and had to put Jennie's name as the adressee since it was her name on the package. Then both of us (me) had to sign the form under dire warnings about committing Postal Fraud. They reiterated that I needed receipts to prove the value of the contents of the package. I had none, so what could I do but submit it anyway.

A week later I got a note from the Post Office, and surprisingly it was not a form letter, requesting receipts. I wrote back, restating that I didn't have any because of the nature of the contents.

Fortunately, the person in the local USPS claims office was sympathetic, and I got the feeling they pushed the claim through.

Fast-forward another month-and-a-half. I wasn't expecting any packages in my P.O. Box and so was surprised when I got word that there was one waiting. You can imagine my surprise and utter delight when they produced my box!!! There was no indication as to why it had taken over two-and-a-half months to arrive at its destination. Both address labels were fully intact and easily readable - and the address was indeed correct. But to be honest, I was so euphoric, I really didn't care. All that mattered was that I had my belongings back again.

There is an ironic twist to all of this. A week to the day after I received my box, I got a letter from the post office. It contained a check to the amount of $258.32 (the insurance + the postage). I was very tempted to cash the check, but in the end I thought better of it. I returned the check with a note saying that I had received my package after two-and-a-half months and I no longer needed their insurance money. I'll bet, given the hassle of getting a claim approved, the USPS doesn't often get checks returned!