a stamp is forever

it's been a long time since i sent out a ttm autograph request. i did send one in 2021 (thanks kyle garlick!) but before that it was a bevy of 1978 topps cards sent out in late 2019 and early 2020.  most of those came back, but a few are still mia.

i sent requests to yankee teammates george zeber and fran healy on november 27, 2019. zeber's card came back signed about a week later according to my spreadsheet, but healy's didn't return until a couple of weeks ago.

that's 976 days of purgatory for my request! still not as long a wait as the 1,224 days thad bosley's return took, but a long time regardless. i am very thankful to mr. healy for signing the card and sending it back.

of course, the introduction of the forever stamp helps out tremendously in times like this. when i sent the request to healy, the return stamp was valued at $0.55 and today it's value is $0.60. no postage due! and, even better, the return stamp was not canceled so i will be using it to send a few cards to a fellow blogger. fran healy made it possible!

as for the card itself, it plays with my mild ocd as i needed a new page for it. i am trying to decide if i add another 8 signed cards from the set or stay where i am at with 434 signed cards (one card - rod carew - is sealed in a semi-rigid holder with a authentication certification). maybe a few more of those outstanding requests will trickle in and the issue will take care of itself. only time and forever stamps will tell.