What’s the most memorable thing you ever got in the mail?

 

Although letter mail might be something ordinary for older generations, I feel that for someone of our generation, it can be quite special. We grew up in a world where someone on the complete opposite side of the planet could be contacted a push of a button, and wait weeks for mail to get to other countries, not even sure if the mail was lost along the way. 

When I was younger, I would participate in mailing out some items, such as the annual New Year letter that my family would put together. My sister and I would stand side-by-side as we placed stamps on the top right corner of the envelopes and dabbed water on the adhesive portion of the envelope flap. We left the address writing to my mom at the time because our handwriting back then wasn’t exactly what you would consider “legible”. But ever since we started sending emails instead of physical letters, I haven't had an occasion where I would need to send out physical mail for about 10 years.

So the day I started trading cards via paper mail, I suddenly found that I had no memory left on how to properly send out mail. I did what any teenager in their right mind would do: pulled out my phone and furiously typed into Google “how to send mail”. I briskly scrolled past the first result, which was wikiHow, because of the sudden war flashbacks I got to the tiktok trend with bad wikiHow results. But after finding a website that didn’t have ads popping in my face every 2 seconds, I was able to put together my first piece of sendable mail. 

As I continued my career in trading cards, I found myself discovering more about letter mail such as: (1) You have to buy a different kind of stamp for international mail. (2) The post office here is quite the stickler for rules on mail size and postage price associated with it. and (3) You will lose your patience as you wait up to months for something to arrive, your worry that the item got lost growing each day that passes (totally not from first-hand experience). I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve had to wait weeks for mail just a couple states away, just because the distribution center two miles from my house deemed the package unfit to standards and had it shipped back to the sender. However, I have to admit that dealing with physical mail has taught me to be more patient and makes it a lot more gratifying when a package finally arrives at my doorstep. Having physical mail delivered to me feels more special than anything I’ve sent or received over the internet. Other than the fact that I’m getting a tangible item, it also fascinates me that the item that I have in my hands traveled all the way from places as far as Singapore or Germany.

Although I don’t have an individual piece of mail that’s the most memorable to me, I’ve found more value in the experience and connections I’ve gained through physical mail. I have two pen pals now, one in Singapore and one in London, who I communicate with often, and have plans to visit this upcoming summer. I’ve also kept all the trading notes that people send with the items they trade, compiling them into a scrapbook I keep for memories. I must say I feel *Debby Ryan smile* different from other girls when I say I communicate by physical mail. I’m sure my parents laugh whenever I get extra excited over a package but are secretly happy that I’m not spending all my time on that darn phone.