Snail Mail

Snail mail is the best. 

Well, let me rephrase that... Snail mail from someone you care about is the best. Junk mail, bills, etc... that's not really that exciting. But a card for no reason, dropped in the mail because someone was thinking of you? That is the BEST.

I make it my personal mission to make people's days. I smile at strangers (even though it makes people nervous), let people go first if they have fewer items or if they held the door open for me, hold the door open for people, help little old ladies find their cars in the parking lot at Meijer, that sort of thing.

Side thought - that has happened to me an alarming number of times. Old Ladies: get a car with an alarm or start writing down where you park. And while you are at it, write down the make/model and color of your car. Searching for a 'four door, blue, or wait, maybe green, with that symbol that looks like a police badge on the back' (green Buick...) is kind of hard in a parking lot full of cars. And although walking through the entire parking lot only to find your car was about 3 cars away from where you were originally standing is fun...sometimes I have places to be. But you are usually really sweet so I will help you anyways. Please don't offer me money. That's awkward and I don't want it. Well I do, but for some reason taking money from little old ladies just feels wrong...

Anyways - back to the topic at hand - I send the heck out of snail mail. I send cards, postcards, letters, care packages, boxes of sunshine...anything and everything. I love to browse the card section wherever I am at. Even if I don't have someone specifically in mind that I want to send one to, I like to check them out anyways. Usually I will find one that just screams someones name, so I pick it up and get it in the mail.

Receiving gifts is one of my 'love languages' if you have read that book. (I haven't read the whole book, but when I was at GLCC one of our dorm activities was taking a quiz and finding out our love languages to get to know our new roomies and how we can bless them.) I figure since I enjoy something like that so much, it probably means a lot to my friends as well. I don't receive them near as much as I send them, but that is just fine. The joy I get when that person calls me up and says how much it meant that I was thinking about them and took the time to physically write them something gives me such a high. It's awesome. 

Plus, most of the time, when I have sent someone a card, the response I get is that it came at the best possible time. They were having a down day, things haven't been going as they hoped/planned, they just failed a test, broke up with a boyfriend/girlfriend, something bad just happened... whatever it may be, knowing that someone was thinking about them totally brightens their day and reminds them that things will get better. Is there anything better than that feeling?! Knowing that you in some small way, changed their outlook on life? It's pretty great to know you made a difference.

Sometimes I get them in return... and I kind of freak out about it. Like today. My friend Megan sent me a Halloween card with a Panera gift card. Just because. I knew she was sending me something, because she texted me to apologize that it was going to be so late (like I even care!) so when I saw it in the mailbox today I squealed. I opened it and she had written on BOTH SIDES OF THE CARD. This is a huge deal. I always write novels when I send cards... it's just what I do. Usually when I get cards they are only a few lines. So when I get a novel back... holy cow. Day. Made.

So I don't really know what my point was here... but I guess I'll just say this: If you randomly think of someone, chances are there is a reason for it. Send them a letter or a card, or at least a phone call out of the blue. Most of the time, it's at a time when they really need to know that someone cares.

Happy snail-mailing :)