loving the mail

Last July I told you about my love affair with the Mexican post office -- cards on the table.

Despite everything I had heard from an overwhelming majority of expatriates that I should never count on the Mexican post office, I have.

And the service has been good.  Most of my letters take ten days to two weeks to head north -- and about the same time to make it south.

When I wrote that piece last July, I included a photograph of the stack of birthday and anniversary cards I had mailed that day.  My closing sentence?  "Now, I will wait for my family and friends to bury me in stamped greetings."

Well, it has happened.  Last week, four cards showed up in my mail box.

In this world of tweets, e-mail, and Facebook comments, I am still a sucker for greeting cards in the mail.  It probably dates back to those days when we sent off a stack of boxtops along with a quarter in exchange for whatever treasure Roy Rogers, Little Orphan Annie, or Betty Boop was ready to bless our childhood with.  And always: NO STAMPS ACCEPTED.

For me, it is a way to physically connect with people who I do not see as often as I once did.  My take last week included a Christmas card from my law school friends Ken and Patti.  Plus a birthday card from my grade school friend David, and another from my neighborhood friends since 1958 -- Stephanie and Jim.

The fourth card was a returned birthday card I mailed to a college friend.  I need to figure out what happened to his address.  I suspect he may have moved.  People do that.

What was odd is that each card took at least four weeks to arrive in my box.  Even though the delivery time was a bit long, I reveled in each card.  As if each of the senders -- my friends -- had stopped by to say hello.

Even though my birthday was two weeks ago, I felt a bit as if I were celebrating my birthday Hanukkah style.

So, thank you Patti and Ken; David and Pam; Stephanie and Jim.  You have all helped make this a pleasant month.

And the rest of you?  I love you just the same.  Even more than I love the Mexican post office.