<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr">Good morning. <div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">After sending out the story of Raymond to many, many contacts, <span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I looked closely at the photograph and realized that the printing on the cards on the lid of the wooden box did not look right (enlarged photo below). I suspected that it was AI generated.</span> I then began to wonder if the story was true. I did a bit of research on the story and discovered that it is in fact not true. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">However… regardless of the story being true or not, it’s message is still very important for me personally… And judging from the numerous responses that I received from many individuals to whom I sent the message, it would appear that it strikes a chord within others as well! Perhaps it has something to do with all the darkness surrounding us at this time in our collective history. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">This reminds me of traditional storytellers… The stories they tell may not be accurate or historically true… but the lessons taught by the stories remain very important. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I also think of biblical stories… We now know that many are not historically accurate, but rather provide guidance to assist in the formation of a community of people, and in developing a sense of their own history & identity. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I am including below a link to the website I found confirming that the story of Raymond is “fake”. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I should have verified all of this before sending it out. I apologize for this - and will be sure to do my due diligence in researching stories in the future!</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Have a blessed day and a joyous first Sunday of Advent! May the spirit of this mythical Raymond and his purported good deeds, move us to respond to the struggles of those around us… especially during this time of Advent!</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Dean Riley. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div style="display: block;" class=""><div style="-webkit-user-select: all; -webkit-user-drag: element; display: inline-block;" class="apple-rich-link" draggable="true" role="link" data-url="https://www.elliotlaketoday.com/local-news/ai-generated-story-widely-shared-online-11552811"><a style="border-radius:10px;font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;display:block;-webkit-user-select:none;width:228px;user-select:none;-webkit-user-modify:read-only;user-modify:read-only;overflow:hidden;text-decoration:none;" class="lp-rich-link" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.elliotlaketoday.com/local-news/ai-generated-story-widely-shared-online-11552811" dir="ltr" role="button" draggable="false" width="228"><table style="table-layout:fixed;border-collapse:collapse;width:228px;background-color:#E9E9EB;font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" class="lp-rich-link-emailBaseTable" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="228"><tbody><tr><td vertical-align="center" align="center"><img alt="ai-st-joes.jpeg" src="cid:1A895462-B306-4444-885E-FBFF747FAA1E"></td></tr><tr><td vertical-align="center"><table bgcolor="#E9E9EB" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="228" style="font-family:-apple-system, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;table-layout:fixed;background-color:rgba(233, 233, 235, 1);" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:8px 0px 8px 0px;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStackItem"><div style="max-width:100%;margin:0px 16px 0px 16px;overflow:hidden;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:700;font-size:12px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;text-align:left;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack-topCaption-leading"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.elliotlaketoday.com/local-news/ai-generated-story-widely-shared-online-11552811" style="text-decoration: none" draggable="false"><font color="#000000" style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);">Heartwarming, generous...and fake</font></a></div><div style="word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:600;font-size:11px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;text-align:left;" class="lp-rich-link-captionBar-textStack-bottomCaption-leading"><a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.elliotlaketoday.com/local-news/ai-generated-story-widely-shared-online-11552811" style="text-decoration: none" draggable="false"><font color="#A2A2A9" style="color: rgba(60, 60, 67, 0.6);">elliotlaketoday.com</font></a></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div></div><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><img alt="image0.png" src="cid:B3A12157-B39D-4D96-AE8B-56AA220C5009-L0-001"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><img alt="image1.jpeg" src="cid:DB99FA88-F8DE-45C3-B5E9-D638672E4484-L0-001"><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>