After Hurricane Irene passed through our area Sunset Beach resident and author Jacqueline DeGroot was asked by the Guardian of the Kindred Spirit Mailbox to check mailbox as soon as she could.
She found that the dune in front had eroded somewhat leaving it in a precarious position and tilted.
The bench had fallen backward and had become uprooted.
So she began looking for volunteers to help relocate the Kindred Spirit mailbox to a more stable location.
“Jack” (as her friends call her) is not one to sit around waiting for someone else to take action so on a Thursday 
morning in early September, DeGroot, and a group of friends headed out to Bird Island armed with shovels.
They relocated the mailbox just a few feet from its old location (with the blessing of the Kindred Spirit’s anonymous guardian).
Pictured are volunteer Mailbox Restoration Team members Laura Lewis, Sandy and Kathy Lonsinger, Sharon Maple, Frank Nesmith, Sandy Raymond, Carol and Pete Scott, and Patrick Szymansk.
The volunteers then proceeded to re-situate the wooden bench that normally sits beside it and generally cleaned things up.
The notebooks of the Kindred Spirit are once again ready for new handwritten messages from beachcombers, thinkers and day dreamers of all kinds.
By the way, if you’re not familiar with DeGroot’s books, check out this website: https://islandsartstore.com
So What Is The Kindred Spirit Mailbox?
Know one knows who placed the mailbox on Bird Island (an uninhabited island at the west end of Sunset Beach, NC). The person who put it there wrote “Twenty seven years ago I walked the tide line of Bird Island. In the distance – right on the low tide line – I saw the silhouette of a rural mailbox. However, I never could reach it – for it was a mirage. The very next weekend, I “planted” the original Kindred Spirit mailbox”.
The mailbox is filled with notebooks, pens and pencils along with the stories and tales of all the travelers who’ve journeyed to this place. Each entry begins with the phrase “Dear Kindred Spirit.”
These journals are filled with prayers, wishes, thanksgivings, personal stories and more – each writer adding his or her own bits of wisdom to the collection.
An empty wooden park bench sits just in front of the Kindred Spirit mailbox, offering its oceanfront seat to visitors who’ve journeyed to this spot so they’re able to read the stories and share their own.
Then, once the notebooks and journals are complete, they’re mailed to their mysterious owner – the Kindred Spirit – who lovingly reads, collects and saves each spiralbound book of stories.
So Where Is The Kindred Spirit Mailbox?
If you’d like to visit the Kindred Spirit mailbox yourself, come over the Sunset Beach bridge, take a right at the oceanfront. From the last public Sunset Beach access make a right and head southwest. It’s about an hour walk there and back. Like most things in life, it’s about the journey, especially in a world where every thing else seems instantaneous. After a mile and a quarter, you’ll see a second flag pole, and you’ll find the mailbox there at the foot of it.
So if you’re feeling like you just need to escape from the daily grind, go and get away. Watch a sunset, hold hands with someone you love and maybe even write a letter to someone you’ve never met.
A new “Virtual” Kindred Spirit Mailbox is now up at: https://thekindredspirit.net/the-mailbox-is-here – Now you can access The Kindred Spirit from anywhere in the world!
