Post Cards as Memories

I was web browsing the other day and visiting various sites and I must admit I am delighted with the options and blog sites that are out there. Yes I was always aware of them, I knew people were spending time journalling their thoughts, talents, frustrations and daily lives but knowing and experiencing are two separate things.

One site that I find especially enjoyable is the site a postcard a day http://apostcardaday.blogspot.com/, now this industrious person is posting the post cards she has received over the years. This brought back a found memory for me.

My mom loves to travel and believe me you will all get to hear about it over time, anyway back on track. My mom used to send the most fantastic post cards from where ever she traveled. Sometimes she would go off for the day on one of her jaunts and a couple of weeks later I would receive a card. It has happened so often I stopped trying to keep up with her. It did get a little troublesome a while back when she started going on extended trips and not letting me know. Now mind you i live in the midwest and she currently (actually has always) resides in the Los Angeles area. So I would go to call her and no answer, the advent of cell phones really helped me to keep track of her. But I have established the hard fast rule, no leaving the country without telling me first.

Anyway she would send postcards from some of her jaunts, occasionally it would be just a ha ha I am here and you are not.. like a trip to Olvera Street. one of my favorite places on earth. As a mother with young children it was obviously hard for me to go anywhere or experience any of it for myself. So I would take her post cards and laminate them, leaving them out to be played with by the children. A friend once asked my why I went to the expense of having them laminated and before I could respond one of the kids reached across the coffee table and spilled red juice on all of them. Smiling I picked up the post cards and handed it to her, still in pristine condition. My reasons now clear.

These postcards are still around, although for some reason my mom who has increased up her travelling has decreased her post card sending. Or maybe since my children are teens she has refocused her energies on the younger grandchildren. What a fabulous way to teach geography.One day this is a habit I hope to emulate with my grandchildren (one day far away from now).