A lifetime of wonder

Receive a special discount and gift with your purchase of a membership today. | [View in browser]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear {NAME}, "Thank you for a lifetime of wonder." That's the last line of one of the most touching letters I've received here at the Museum—one that brings a joyful tear to my eye. It came from a man named Charles. Charles has been a Member with us for 73 years. He was moving away from his lifelong home just across the Hudson, to be closer to his daughter. Thankfully, he saw fit to share his Museum story with us as he was preparing to leave. Charles's story captures so much about why this Museum matters in people's lives, and why it deserves our support. [You can start your own Museum story by becoming a Member today.]( And if you join before December 31, you'll receive an exclusive MYSTERY discount as a special thanks! [Use promo code MYSTERY at checkout to save now on your membership.]( You'll also receive our official guide and activity book, Explore!, as our thank you gift to you. [Join today!]( Your membership ensures that we can continue to enrich and inspire visitors like Charles for generations to come. "When I was five years old, my father took me to the American Museum of Natural History/Hayden Planetarium for the first time. I was completely fascinated. I hounded him for several weeks until he acquired a Junior Membership for me... He paid for it until, at the age of eight, I received my own newspaper route, at which time it became my responsibility. At the advent of high school, my best friend and I (he was also a Junior Member) received permission from our parents to go from New Jersey to New York City on our own to visit the Museum and planetarium complex... My friend and I went to the Museum every month, through high school, on the second Saturday of the month. We both did some work after school to supplement our allowances. I remember saving over several months to purchase the pieces of the Dinosaur Collection and the Early Mammal Collection to make shoe box dioramas for my bedroom. It was a time of great happiness and learning for me. My parents wondered for a time whether I would try to become a paleontologist, or an archeologist or a geologist; I'm afraid I disappointed them; I became a [nuclear] physicist... with some electrical engineering on the side." The only lapse in Charles's decades of membership came when he enlisted in the Navy for a few years, and only then "due to the difficulty of getting timely mail at sea." After returning to civilian life, he became a father and started the cycle of exploration anew with his children. Fittingly, his letter concludes: "May the museum and planetarium delight and bring wonder to many more generations… The children are always the future; keep educating and enthralling them. Thank you for a lifetime of wonder." Since his move to Florida in 2012, Charles has maintained his membership and keeps up on the latest news from his beloved American Museum of Natural History. [Please help us fulfill his wish for its future by joining the Museum as a member before December 31.]( You'll also unlock a special discount by joining today and using promo code MYSTERY at checkout, and you'll also get the official guide book, Explore!, as our thanks for your support. We're proud of what we've been able to accomplish with Members like Charles by our side—and we're so excited for your Museum story to emerge. We look forward to having you join us. Sincerely, Louise Adler Senior Director of Membership and Annual Fund American Museum of Natural History [Become a Member]( PS. Please purchase your membership by midnight on December 31 for a 2017 tax acknowledgment. Membership is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Privacy Policy]( You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to Renewal Notifications. American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street New York, NY 10024-5192 Phone: 212-769-5606