Friday, May 09, 2008

I've Got Mail :)


"I get mail; therefor I am."

-Scott Adams

Ut oh. We forgot the mail. LOL. It has been hectic in our house lately, and somehow, in all the drama, Alan and I forgot to check the mail. When it finally occurred to us, almost at the same time by the way, it was already too late. Waiting for us in our PO BOX was a slightly sarcastic note from the mailman, implying that perhaps we really didn't want our mail at all! LOL. I think he must have felt neglected somehow. Here he was doing a perfectly fine job of filling my mailbox with all kinds of treasures such as my vast catalog collection, and an almost personally handwritten mass mailing from Hillary Clinton, but unfortunately, there wasn't anyone coming by to notice his hard work. Poor Mailman. I am sorry.

I think I blame the invention of email. See, 99% of the time, my correspondence seems to be from computer to computer, even with family members that I still keep in touch with. And with those I don't email, I call instead. Sigh. It's so weird. In the mid 90's I had a regular routine. I would grab my box of stationary, or my box of note cards, and head off to my favorite bagel shop to have a little snack and do some writing to friends and family. It was a nice diversion. Some fresh air, and a snack. It did this body good!

Somehow it seemed to help my thinking process, to do my writing in such a relaxing atmosphere. But one day, I am not really sure why, I stopped writing. Maybe it was the cost of stamps, or maybe because something shiny, like the Internet, distracted me. Shrug. Who knows? But the other day, when I retrieved my mail, I found among all the catalogs, special offers, bills, and mass mailings, there was a special little surprise. One that both lifted my spirits, and reminded me of how much a hand written note can make me smile. I heard from my friend Suzanne, who authors the blog, Living... New Suzanne R's Life.

From the postmark, it was clear that she had sent me the note way back at the end of April! Yikes! And accompanying the note, came a little package of cute little post it notes with my name on them! I LOVE things like this. I use post it's constantly, so now each time I reach for one of these special ones, I feel a nice little smile cross my face. Suzanne, your fun little gift is just perfect! :) I am so sorry I didn't acknowledge your gift sooner. It was so sweet of you to think of me. When I look around on my desk, I see that I actually have a lot of little snail mail gifts from pals I have met through blogging.

A pretty little candle, and a box of tea that Slomo sent me. A silver photo in the shape of dragonflies that came from Vivian, which holds some photos Steven shared with me by email. I have a black and white cat magnet, that looks a lot like Elvis, that was sent to me by Mara. I also have a pin that Karen sent me, which looks like Dorothy's ruby slippers. I put the pin on one of my collectible bears that sits on my desk, so I see it often. I consider all these items among my treasures. Someone cared about me the day they were mailed, and that is a nice feeling. I need to send more snail mail to my friends and family. I need to give back a little, to folks like Suzanne, who have taken the time to remind me I am not alone in this life. It's amazing how much we can touch someone with just a simple gesture of friendship, and a couple moments out of our day.



Thank you Suzanne, for making me feel special yesterday! :)

So tell me, do you do as much snail mail writing as you used to? Do you prefer email to snail mail? When was the last time you got snail mail from a friend or family member? Do you still send birthday or holiday cards? I would love to hear your thoughts!

-OndineMonet
"I've Got Mail"
Berkeley, California
May 9th, 2008
Afternoon

6 comments:

MyMaracas said...

How lucky for you! And if anyone deserves presents from pals, it would be you, m'dear.

I don't get or send nearly as much mail as I used to. I do send cards for special occasions, but I don't recall the last time I wrote a real letter. I've thought about that, too. I have boxes of old letters, and I cherish them as much for the handwriting of the sender as for their contents. Will anyone in the next generations have real letters to hold? I wonder.

Anonymous said...

I consider myself 100% postally impaired these days, have been since I got my first computer many years ago!

I won't be around much the rest of this month Carly, life is just busy, busy, busy right now. Miss me while I'm gone and take good care of you and Elvis. Hugs!

Suzanne R said...

Hi, Carly --

I'm sorry I'm so late in visiting you today, as I took time out to watch a movie and then try to catch up on some e-mail, but then I remembered that I had neglected my blogging friends today so rushed on over. You warm my heart with your thoughts about the post-its I sent you. I just had the thought that in this case, truly, they had your name written all over them. ;-) I was delighted when I found them and it was fun sending them to you.

As to snail mail versus e-mail, I was so happy when I learned early in January that all of my siblings now had e-mail. When my mother was ill, it was more difficult to communicate via snail mail since there was the 3-day lag time in between each of us. Of course, we did some phoning, but e-mail is my favorite by far. I still write to my sweet little 92-year-old uncle via snail mail, and I send thank-you notes via the good old postal service, too. But I don't snail mail nearly as much as I used to.

Socks is up here with me, investigating the keyboard, so I will say so long. Perhaps having a cat so nearby is one drawback of doing correspondence online! LOL!

HUGS!

Liz said...

{{{{Carly}}}} I have to apologize myself....as I haven't been keeping up with my own e-mail OR snail mail! You're not alone! Been so crazy busy!

How about I add to your stuff in your PO Box with an "Aunt Nub Original"? Just e-mail me the snail mail address.

And did I read correctly ~ Slomo sent you some tea? I nearly fell off my chair!!! She's still out there? Is she OK? Where the heck has she been?!?! Soooooo many people have been wondering & worrying about her!!!!!

Hugz,
~~Aunt Nub~~

Anonymous said...

Hello...I read your entry and I have to say that I loved it. I wanted to thank you for sharing this.

Me, myself and I love snail mail even though it takes time getting to me. I have friends who send me things in the mail which I appreciate. I have to say that I like sending letters and cards. I just hate the fact that stamps are going up along with the price of gas.

Anywho...why not send me your address so I could send you a card or two ??? If you wouldn't mind getting a card in the mail.

Anonymous said...

nice entry Carly!
hugs, natalie