Thoughts & Things

Postcard Collection

This morning I found a lovely postcard from WDC in the mail. I feel like this is one of those things where I would have loved it regardless, as I have certainly enjoyed previously received items from them. That said, this particular item is actually a bit of a lucky coincidence, as I happen to collect postcards.

I started collecting postcards when I was a little kid. I mostly just liked the way they looked at first. I got one or another here or there. Once I had a few, I found I liked having different ones. I already had a small collection going before I decided to start collecting. My family realised how smitten I was with postcards, and began sending them to me when they were away on vacations.

My dad traveled with the military, and would often send postcards home to me. I have postcards from all over the world from his various military exercises. I actually have a couple of postcards from the military base he was at when he served in Afghanistan. I have postcards from my grandmother's periodic vacations throughout my life. I have a whole stack of postcards from when my mother went to Washington on business trip when I was a kid. Most of these were not actually mailed to me the way a postcard would be, but simply brought home to add to my collection.

When I took a road trip to the east coast as a child, I accumulated quite the stack of additional postcards, my favourites being the Anne of Green Gables ones I got in PEI and the Spring Hill collection I got in Nova Scotia. I once found a postcard from Ottawa dated to 1908 that I purchased at a flea market. I also have bought many postcards on trips to New York and on trips to Ireland.

After my boyfriend and I started dating, he got me a Game of Thrones postcard at Belfast comic-con, and wrote me the most lovely love letter on it. This one remains right next to my desk so that I can look at it whenever I want to feel close to him and can't be.

I probably have postcards in the triple digits at this point. They have become memories of hobbies, travel, family members, love. They are incredibly special to me. The collection is physically something I enjoy having, but the memories it holds are even more important to me. And now WDC gets to be part of my physical memories.

(I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Twelve.)