Question away. Mine still works. That is all I can say really.

I doubt David is wrong, it is certainly an opinion I share. as an email account is intrinsically linked to a gmail account, I actually find it hard to beleive that the account is closed but the email is not!

Have you actually asked at google? or are you assuming your issue is related to your account being deactivated for lack of use?

"I actually find it hard to beleive that the account is closed but the email is not!" The acct is not 'closed.' It is inaccessible allegedly because of inactivity... because I have not logged directly in to Google in a browser (or by using a 'Sign in with Google' link). This, according to Google. When this happened back in December, I had to prove it was me, and had the right to access the account in order for me to regain access to that account. As I mentioned in my OP, I had, at the time, dismissed it as just my dumb luck to have been caught up in an inactivity problem. But now again, the same thing has happened with yet another gmail account.

"Have you actually asked at google?" Unless you have a paid account (which I did not know existed until last December), you cannot contact and get support from Google on anything. The only support available is online. And THAT support basically advises that if the steps outlined don't get you back into your account... c'est la vie

"...or are you assuming your issue is related to your account being deactivated for lack of use?" I use T-bird exclusively for email - I have for years. When I turn my computer on, the first thing gets launched is Firefox. Then T-bird. Then I check for new mail. Both stay open as long as I'm at the computer. I check for email everyday, several times a day, on all my email accounts - 3 gmail accounts; 1 yahoo account; 2 AOL accounts. If you were in my place, what would you assume the issue is?

Also, something I hadn't thought about until just now... when this happened with the other incident in December, in addition to checking for/popping email daily, I HAD been using one of those 'Sign in with Google' links nearly everyday - and still do. So, it would seem to me that issue should never have happened. For this latest issue, I do not use any 'Sign in with Google' links, because, as mentioned in my OP, this email account is not used for fun.

I came here to see if anyone else had experienced this problem, and had perhaps figured out how to fix it. Or what was causing it. After a couple of days of few views and no replies, it became apparent that I'm just the lucky one! If I had not tried to log in to gmail in my browser to change my password, I would never have realized that I could not log in. I do not understand the seemingly contradictory situation: T-bird can log in to my gmail, but I can't.

Thanks for your reply.