Love and Friendship Live on in the Kindred Spirit Mailbox

For years people wondered just who kept the Kindred Spirit Mailbox going all those years? It happened to be a secret held together with years of love and admiration between Claudia Sailor and Frank Nesmith.

Some say for Frank Nesmith, Claudia was the love of his life. Today, when 88-year-old Frank talks about Claudia, he gets misty-eyed and seems to drift back to a time 35 years ago when he met a beautiful young lady and even though their relationship did not turn into marriage, their love continues in each visit and word written to the Kindred Spirit.

Franks says he remembers seeing a beautiful girl struggling to put a post out on the beach and went to her rescue. Frank Nesmith found an old piece of driftwood to steady the mailbox and ended up catching the pretty girl’s eye as well. Frank says they started a romance.

Claudia, from Hope Mills, wanted the mailbox to be a place where people who needed to find peace, comfort and spiritual refuge could come and she came up with the mailbox and journals. Frank, from Tabor City, wanted to help see Claudia’s dreams come true, so he helped her for over 30 years.

For decades, visitors journeyed from Sunset Beach across Bird Island to the mailbox. Some say they suspected who kept the journals replenished, but they weren’t quite sure.

Claudia and Frank kept the secret of the Kindred Spirit through the years, even after they broke up and Claudia married another.

Claudia passed away in 2013, but she wanted to ensure the spirit of the mailbox would remain alive. Claudia had formed an online friendship with Sunset Beach author Jacqueline DeGroot who asked Jacqueline to help replace the notebooks from time to time. Jack, as she is known, did so and continued to keep Claudia and Frank’s secret.

DeGroot and her friend Sandy continue to walk or ride bikes to gather and replace the notebooks every week in the summer and do repairs on everything from the flag, to the dunes, to the mailbox itself. In the summer of 2015, a storm surge had Jack forming a team of volunteers to help rebuild the site after the mailbox, flag and benches all received damage.

For those who come to the Kindred Spirit Mailbox, it’s hard not to feel the special bonds that hold it together. It’s the love and friendship of Claudia and Frank, that live on in the hearts of everyone who visits.