Mailbox to Heaven

Simply Human Productions
Nov 17, 2025
3 min read

I walked up a mesa dessert path in Abiquiu New Mexico, carrying the heavy loss of you in my pocket.

It was just me and the gravel below my feet, bringing me further from society and every living thing, but each step brought on a memory and me closer to you.

Between the warmth of sun on my face, the breeze cooling my legs, it was like I could feel your presence nearby and just out of reach.

Part of me convinced myself that maybe if I just climbed higher, I could reach you. Like you were waiting at the top leaning against a rock, with that smirk on your face telling me what took you so long sis? I could picture you there like it was yesterday waiting, ready to give me a hard time because you had been waiting here all along.

I knew that it wasn’t true, but the thought made me laugh and brought me comfort as I struggled to comprehend that you were no longer on this earth. That at family gatherings there would still be an empty seat at the table. You weren’t with your mom or others in Texas. You had left this earth. You were gone.

With each step the clouds kept getting closer and nothing but rock and shrubs in sight for miles. Until up around a corner into a clearing, I came across a mailbox unmarked in the middle of nowhere. Not only was it in the middle of nowhere but it was brand new and the flag was up?

A mailbox to nowhere? I did a 360 thinking that there had to be something nearby, a house, a shack, something. From this lookout point I could see for miles. There was nothing but nature and dessert.

Just then the sun peered through the clouds showcasing the mailbox. A heavenly light.

It was a mailbox to heaven.

I stood there for what could have been a minute or an hour. Time somehow was lost in a vacuum as I thought about how much I missed you.

Then it was as if the pause button was shut off, and without hesitation I reached into the side pocket of my backpack. I pulled out a sealed letter that I had held onto for so many years that I wrote to you. Below the words Johnny Tyszko I wrote, H-E-A-V-E-N and put it in the mailbox.

You passed away before your 37^th Birthday. Crazy to think your forever 37, I know you would make some joke about how we’d all be wilting away while you successfully found the fountain of youth or something. You were one of the funniest people. Could always take any bad situation and make it funny. That was one of your superpowers.

You would be turning 42 tomorrow. Yes, I know there isn’t a literal mailbox to heaven, but I find comfort in the beautiful moments the universe displays for us.

In those moments I remember you.

I think of how much you made me laugh.

I know I will carry that with me always and for that I am grateful.

Thank you Johnny.

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by Kristine Joseph November 17, 2025