Postcards and the People Who Love Them

My mother has always been a social inspiration to me—throwing flawless parties, having interesting conversations, and giving thoughtful gifts were taught to me by example while growing up. You would think that now that I'm not at home, I might be a little less under her tutelage. I thought the same thing.

But while I was in California most recently, I happened upon a tiny stash of social magic that my mom had hiding in plain sight.

Postcard after postcard after postcard—stamped and all!

In the little organizer by the land line telephone, there was a small pocket filled with stamped postcards that were just waiting to be mailed to someone special. I admired this bout of genius, but forgot to tell my mom that I discovered her secret.

She must have known, though, because Jack received a Disney's Tarzan postcard this week; she told Jack how much fun it was to see him and asked him when he was coming back to California. He could not believe that there was some mail just for him and demanded to put it up on his wall right away.

Postcards are so easy to write, and they can mean so much to the recipient. And having them in plain sight and stamped makes them easy to grab and send. I think I might, once again, follow my mother's example and start building my postcard collection.

Are you a postcard fan?

Do you like the cheesiest ones or the most picturesque?

Who would you send one to right this very second?