One of the nicest parts of having a book published has been hearing from complete strangers and immediately feeling a sort of kinship with them.

What more colorful thing could I find in my mailbox than this air letter from Malaysia?

It was from a lady in Kuala Lumpur (British, I think), who apologized for being a “dinosaur” and not using a computer. Apologized? Good grief, she made my day!

She had lived in Chennai (then Madras) during the 1950s, when my family did, and had been married there in 1951, in St. Mary’s Cathedral. This sent me scurrying to Google, where I found that the church, built 1678-1680, is the oldest Anglican cathedral “east of Suez.” It absolutely reeks of history.

She also told me that she and her husband had, over the years, taken walks on the beach gathering green sea glass. Her husband had had the “stones” made into earrings and a couple of necklaces, which they called her “emeralds.” The necklace that Jana Bibi gets from Ramachandran’s Treasure Emporium in the book reminded her of her own treasures. Sounds like her husband is a treasure, too!