Gary, thanks so much for your wonderful letter! Nice story!

November 27, 2005

I thought I'd share the email below I sent to my mother's minister, which gives background on the search for a "stuffed snail."

Gary :)

California

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Bruce,

I have a story here I think you will find interesting.You gave a sermon where you asked something like this -- What does the snail say riding on the turtle? Wheee!! I forgot exactly the point you were making. But, anyway, a few days later I was at Thousand Oaks Toyota service dept. getting something for my Prius - when I noticed this rack with these cute stuffed animals. So I got a stuffed turtle and a stuffed frog - thinking they would be nice for my friend's grandchildren. Then, driving home I remembered your sermon, and thought I'd come back and get another stuffed turtle. Then if I could somehow find a stuffed snail I could mount the snail on the turtle, and send it to you for Christmas. So this led to the search for a stuffed snail on the Internet. I did a google search on "stuffed snail" and ended up at a website for the preservation of tapirs. They have all of these cute stuffed animals. But I didn't see the snail - and so wrote to the email address given.This led to the sweetest responses from "Sheryl" on this website. It took me a while, but I figured out she was the president of this organization working to preserve tapirs. She was giving me so much kind attention looking for my stuffed snails. So this got me very interested in this group - and there is an interview with her below:

http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/st-int1.htm

Gary

Gary is a very thoughtful guy. Much later, when he was at the San Diego Zoo, he bought a ceramic tapir from Peru and sent it to me. I don't have a picture at this moment, but when I take one I'll put it online for you all to see. It is stylized with beautiful designs on its back.

Sheryl