<p>It was more like a victory parade than a postal route.</p><p>As mailman Earl "Woody" Lazenby made his rounds down familiar Snellville-area roads, customers met him at their mailboxes with kind words and handshakes. Some wanted to take pictures of the miracle mail carrier.</p><p>And through it all, the gray-haired postman who likes to keep a strict schedule was good-natured. Many times he stopped to shake hands. On his forearms, faint scars remained from where the bullets had taken their toll.</p><p>Monday was Lazenby's first day back on his route since June, when one of his customers tried to kill him.</p><p>Bill Crutchfield, 60, had plotted to shoot a mailman. Crutchfield said he wanted to live in federal prison and enjoy free medical care. It was Lazenby's fate that Crutchfield lived on his route.</p><p>On that day, Lazenby pulled up to Crutchfield's home on Tanglewood Road and saw Crutchfield waiting for him in the driveway.</p><p>He handed Crutchfield a stack of mail. Crutchfield said "Good morning," and then shot the mailman eight times, piercing his arm, hand and back, Lazenby said.</p><p>Now, after four surgeries and the guilty plea that gave Crutchfield the life sentence he wanted, Lazenby is back to the same route, determined to finish his 28-year career the right way.</p><p>"I never thought that I wouldn't come back," said Lazenby as he readied himself for his route early Monday morning. "I feel like I got the better end of the deal. I am back here in the fresh air. And (Crutchfield) is locked away somewhere in prison."</p><p>Even some of his family members were surprised that Lazenby recovered so quickly.</p><p>"It is amazing that he is back to the same route in just seven months. We are proud of him," son Michael Lazenby said. "I asked him if he would be freaked out about going on the same route. And he said the only thing that would freak him out was if someone was waiting for him at the mailbox."</p><p>Many were waiting for Lazenby. But Monday, they were armed with only smiles.</p><p>He did not stop at 4007 Tanglewood. No one has moved into the home since Crutchfield's arrest, so there was no reason to stop there.</p><p>But as he hurried to get off the street, a postal customer came running, camera in hand.</p><p>It was Jim Bornac, Crutchfield's next-door neighbor and the man who called 911 after Lazenby collapsed. The man who Lazenby credits with saving his life.</p><p>"We thought he was never going to come back," said Bornac as he waited for the mailman to stop at his home.</p><p>Then in a whisper, Bornac added: "It was actually quite horrible. There was a lot of blood."</p><p>The two greeted each other like old friends, embracing as they posed for a picture.</p><p>"It will probably take you 12 hours to finish your route today with all the people wanting to talk to you," Bornac said.</p><p>It was not exactly 12 hours, but it did take Lazenby a little longer to finish Monday.</p><p>"Everywhere I went, people were stopping me or waving and there were even signs on some mailboxes," Lazenby chuckled after finishing the route. "It was nice. It makes you feel really wanted."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1d01d00)</p>
