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Viral mail, museum leadership updates

USPS retiree James Gaboardi, and granddaughter Meghan Henriques-Parker
Meghan Henriques-Parker shows her grandfather, USPS retiree James Gaboardi, the cards and letters he received earlier this year. Image: Hearst Connecticut Media

Dear Jim. The granddaughter of Jim Gaboardi, a retired Danbury, CT, letter carrier whose request for mail went viral this year, is thanking Postal Service employees for their support.

Meghan Henriques-Parker posted the Facebook request after her grandfather told her, “It’s been a long time since I’ve received any mail.”

Gaboardi, a nursing home resident, received more than 2,000 cards and packages, including service pins, hats, photos and other mementos from former co-workers.

He was recently moved to a new facility, according to Henriques-Parker.

The mail has brought him comfort, she said.

“The cards gave my grandfather new life for a few months and it brought light back into his eyes,” Henriques-Parker said. “Every day we would open them together and even made a book of some of the ones that kids from across the country handmade. He flipped through it daily.”

New director. Elliot Gruber has been named director of the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC.

Gruber, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the nonprofit sector, succeeds Allen Kane, who retired in January.

The museum’s news release has more information.

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