Keep your cards

There are some things for which I have an inexplicable fondness:  the lost puppy wondering up and down my road, kind older folk who are perfectly happy to talk with you about the weather, the postal service with real mail, the sweetness of babies, the time I spend driving to church early on a sunny Sunday morning listening to American Country Countdown, the word "nostalgia" and all the memories that go with it...

The list could go on and on. But I stop here to say that I'm very grateful that I have a strong tendency to want to record and remember my memories. The other day I was cleaning my room when I came across my collection of cards. Going through my room always results in lost hours where I become sidetracked by something from the past to look at or read. In this case, looking through my collection of cards made me so happy with remembering that I just have to explain why.

Since 6th grade, I have kept every card from every birthday, holiday and special event you can imagine. My collection has become quite a library by now and you can't blame me for wanted to halt on the cleaning process to flip through the stack. While I was flipping, I came across a bunch of cards from my 16th birthday and I was smacked in the face in the best way possible with a memory. My two very best friends threw me a surprise birthday party for my sweet 16 and if you've never been surprised in that way--and I mean really honestly surprised--well, there's no real way to explain the delight of it. I wanted to jump right back into that moment and tell them that in the future, their cards and party planning will mean more than they'll ever know. Reading through all of those cards reminded me how much my friends cared about me. I think we all need to be reminded of that every now and then.

So keep your cards. You never know when you may be looking through your stack remembering gratefully all the people that love you--that your aunt remembered to send you a card for every single little holiday; your best friend reminded you of all your inside jokes; your friends and relatives who cared enough to write a mini novel to you--it all means a lot.