maggie's mail

Snail mail is near and dear to our hearts. Our family still sends (and sometimes makes) Valentine's cards. We send birthday cards. We send inspirational quotes. We send confetti and stickers and decals to one another. Post cards, special scraps of fabric, old photos, newspaper clippings...we'll slap a stamp on nearly anything! And some of us practice what we call "snail mail ministry", sending notes to folks who may need a virtual hug.

Some of us have even visited the National Postal Museum in Washington D. C.

We are deeply concerned about what is happening to the United States Postal Service. I hope you know what I am talking about. 

Make no mistake. We are training them young. The next generation of snail mailers is just as passionate as us older folks.

Lindsey found this sweet paper airplane fabric and embroidered "Maggie's Mail" on it. She put it in an envelope and mailed it to me. 

I appliquéd it onto a mail carrier's bag that I whipped up for Maggie. Then I put it in the mail.

Maggie hangs it on the doorknob of her apartment in Brooklyn, and stashes her snail mail in it. The next time she and her mama and/or papa go out into the world, she slings that bag over her shoulder, puts on her face mask and makes a bee line for the nearest postal box. She still needs help opening the box, but we know it won't be long until she's tall enough to pull that handle down herself!

This past spring, I made Maggie a pouch and filled it with notecards, envelopes and stickers. She has pen pals from Massachusetts to Michigan and is delighted to find replies in her mailbox down in the lobby of her apartment building.

All of this is especially poignant these days. If I think about how much I miss her and her mama and papa and her cousin Flora and her aunties and uncles, I can feel the tears starting to come. Snail mail is such a simple way to spread the love and feel more connected in these discombobulated times.

I will never take for granted the power of a sticky scrap of paper in the upper right hand corner of an envelope.

xo