link to voicemail secrets

—email—
[email protected]

Dear Frank,

Last week you were speaking in Portland, Oregon. I walked in a little late to a very crowded room. You said a few words, a few more and then, suddenly, I recognized my words:

15 years ago. . . adoption. . . 1 year ago. . . trick or treating. . .

Tears sprang to my eyes. You were reading MY secret. And I heard it. Everyone heard it. My heart was thumping so hard in my chest I was certain everyone could hear it too. I wanted to yell out “That’s my secret!

I went home later, after buying a few books, and told my husband that you read my secret to hundreds of people. He smiled and hugged me. I asked him if he wanted to know what it was. He said; “No, a whole roomful of strangers knows, and that’s enough.”

The Postal Service refers to mail sent without an envelope or any packaging as “naked mail”. Today you can see many examples of naked secrets sent to PostSecret at the “Museum of Us”.

If you are a PostSecret Patreon, you can visit the museum for free.

Along with hundreds of postcards, this second PostSecret mailbox is on display at the museum too. I super-sized our original house mailbox because Kathy, our mail carrier, suggested that I get a bigger one for all the secrets. Visitors would leave written messages on the inside and one on the outside.

To: “frank” <[email protected]>
—-Email Message—–

Dear Frank-
I was at your book reading at Booksmith on Haight street for ‘A Lifetime of Secrets’. It was absolutely wonderful. You signed my book and at that point I had only flipped through the pages.

Well, I sat down to read the book tonight and was overcome with shock, surprise and emotion when I saw my secret. It is written in red sharpie and reads: “I was adopted. I’ve seen pictures of my birth mother but not of my birth father. I am terrified that he will recognize me on the street one day. Every time I see a guy who looks about 35 I look for common features between us. It didn’t used to bother me but somehow it has turned into my greatest fear. I’m only 18 but I’m afraid this will plague me the rest of my life…”

I immediately started to cry. The amazing thing is. I was at your book reading last night with my birth father, Eric (you signed his book to Meghan). I met him last April, and I couldn’t be more happy to have met him, and my birth mother. He was the one who told me about your book reading.

Thank you so much!