Mystery Pen Pal

Siobhan from Galway, Ireland, asked:

Hi Julie,

We are your ordinary average family with two teenage sons, and we have been receiving anonymous and abusive letters over the past year. In all, 30 handwritten letters have been received and posted to our workplaces and home. The letters started in January 2020 and have continued since. 

These letters accuse my husband of stealing money, sexual harassment in the workplace, and of having numerous affairs. They also accuse our eldest son of taking and dealing drugs. 

The letters claim we were being watched going and leaving work, have commented on my weight and have gotten very personal in a nasty way. The letters contained a lot of information about us that only someone who knows us really, really, well would have known.

The person sending the letters is obviously incredibly unwell and looking for us to lose our jobs and to break up our family unit. The local police are trying to help us but at the time of writing this email have come up with nothing. 

Can you shine some light on our situation? This has been the most horrendous 8 months of our lives.

Thanks.

Siobhan

Hi Siobhan,

Wow, I can’t even imagine the nightmare you and your family have experienced since the first of the year.

When asking Spirit for information about the person sending these threatening letters, I “get” it’s a woman, perhaps named Margaret, who works with your husband.

I also “get” she obviously has emotional problems and unbeknownst to him, has “feelings” for your husband. The old saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” (from the play The Mourning Bride, 1697) seems to apply in your situation.

You mentioned your local police hadn’t been able to solve this crime, so it may be time to involve the Special Detective Unit (SDU) of the Garda Síochána (“The Guards” – national police service of the Republic of Ireland). It seems to me since the letters are being sent through the mail and are terrorizing you and your family, federal law enforcement needs to be called. They would certainly have more resources than your local police.

In the meantime, it’s important to remember, no one can create in our world unless we let them because no one can control our thoughts. Terrorism is designed to create fear, and make no mistake, the person sending these letters is a terrorist.

A simple way to help you combat fear is to use a technique I call the “Two Minute Rule”. Here’s how it works …

When you’re feeling any kind of negative emotion, (anger, fear, stress, depression, etc.), ask yourself if the current situation will kill you in the next two minutes. If it will, change the conditions (get out of the street before the truck runs over you). If, however, the answer to the question is no, it means your fear is irrational and therefore false. Letting your brain know a fear is false  will immediately help you feel some relief and lessen your fear. Use the “Two Minute Rule” as many times a day as you need. It works great and it’s free!

Hope this information provides some comfort to you and your family as you discover and eventually prosecute this mystery letter sender.