Pen Pals are not Anachronistic

A few weeks ago i got an email through Facebook from a Japanese woman i knew from my days at the University of North Texas. She said she was doing a project that involved the mail and if i wanted to participate all i needed to do was send her my mailing address. Now, we've all gotten those emails about our rich uncle from Nigeria that left us ten million dollars and we just need to get it to an American bank or some such crap. So anytime someone i don't see or hear from regularly wants my mailing address, i'm a little skeptical. After all, i do place a premium on my privacy and afford some level of due diligence to protect it. Then again, i knew from the moment we met that she was a good person. So i took a chance and sent her my mailing address and waited to see what would come of it.

A couple of weeks later, i received a postcard in the mail from Chofu-Shi, Tokyo, Japan. A plain little card, stark white on both sides with her name just above mine. On the reverse, there was a brief little paragraph being guarded at the corners with watercolor koi fish in hues of aqua and violet. A reconnection made across a four year lull. One she closed simply with, "Hope to see all of you one day". What an offering of love. I have said it many times, but it is just as true each time i say it, "A letter is an act of genuine love, for there is nothing on this earth more precious than our time and to give our time freely with no concern for compensation is nothing short of a gift of love. Unconditional, open and free".

The next day i got out my collection of stationary and picked one that was simple and muted. Bone colored paper with stencils of something like sandy colored birch leaves across it and i began to return the love. I closed mine as simply as she, until we meet again, peace be with you.

In a world so full of complexity and demand on the spirit, don't lose sight of the joy simplicity can bring you. Surround yourself with love and that is what you will receive.

Until we meet again, Peace be with you,

Dave