2003sep26. A visit to the Petrified Forest National Park brings with it endless opportunities to be reminded not to take petrified rocks from the area. It’s in the pamphlet, it’s the singular theme of a piece of paper handed out with the pamphlet, reminders are printed in the newsletter, reminders on every single sign, separate signs posted in different spots ... my favorite bit was the emergency phones made available for, among other things, “reporting wood thefts.” “OH MY GOD, THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!!!” Some of these petrified thieves eventually break down and return the rocks to the “forest,” usually accompanied by a note. [all errors original to note]
June 22, 1990They whited-out the name pretty good, but I figured it out.To whom it may concern
Enclosed here is a piece of petrified wood that my husband took last August 7,1988 in your park. We kept this in the globe compartment of our van since then.
Since we got this piece of wood, we encountered lots of bad luck. First incident that happend was I got accident in this van last November 1988. Then on December of 1989, we sold our shop. One week only before the escrow closed, one of our worker had an accident. We paid all his hospital bills and work compensation. Since we didn’t had insurance. Last May 1990, my sister came over from Australia to attend the wedding of our sister. On the wedding day, she fell down in a flatform. I am responsible for her since she’s a tourist only. I brought her to the doctor. I spent few hundred dollars. These are some few things. The worst case was I got laid-off this June 1990 after 14 years in the company.
I don’t know if all of these are coincidence only. My husband does not believe on superstitions. Anyway it will not harm us if I'll return this piece of wood. I’m sorry and I apologize.
Sincerely,
Liza Minelli