Ray, as many others have already recommended your best bet is to get Gmail or Yahoo mail or any one of many webmail providers. However, I would go with one of the majors like gmail or Yahoo. Outlook.com is pretty good as well. You do not need to know who your internet provider is, just google "free webmail provider" or " free email provider" and take it from there. I'm not sure what else can be said, it really is very simple.
BTW: DirecTV is not an internet provider like your cable company probably was.
Merry Christmas to you too Ray!