i think it's safe to say that no matter how many forms of communication have been and will develop over my lifetime, snail mail will remain my absolute favorite. i will always act like a little kid, jumping up and down, when i see a letter addressed from a friend in my mailbox. obviously this doesn't happen that often, so i always try to encourage (and innocently threaten) my closest friends and my family to send me things through the mail in order to keep my mail-induced happiness on a healthy level. my boyfriend wrote to me this summer from the camp where he worked, making those my first "love letters". of course, no boy could do it as well as noah in "the notebook", who wrote to his girl every single day of the year while they were apart...*sigh*...nonetheless, every time i read a letter from my realistic boyfriend this summer, glee filled my veins and i would remain in a wonderful, giddy mood until the next one arrived. my family has always traveled a lot growing up, and now that i am at school, i am no longer able to tag along and enjoy free getaways with them. as a way to make up for this, my parents have promised to started sending me postcards from their travel spots. in september i received one from my mom, who wrote from spain. i was super excited when i got it in the mail...although postcards are rather tricky because as much as they are filled with love, they contain a lack of space to update the recipient on their travels, as well as a typically amazing photo on the front that makes you even more jealous and upset that you are not with the sender. either way, it's mail, it's sent, it's special, i love it!! on another note...we all know how incredibly spectacular getting a package in the mail can be. from a small age i developed the insight that a package + my name on it = a present just for me. this rule has never upheld so well as it does now that i am in college. care packages are seriously in the running for one of the best ideas..ever. i have been fortunate enough to receive two already! one was a surprise from my next-door neighbors back home, who compiled a box of things to help me avoid swine flu! i know it might sound funny (and sort of lame) but in the box were abundant amounts of hand sanitizers, anti-bacterial foams, a sleeping mask, and most importantly..cliff bars and candy. i thought that was ridiculously nice of my neighbors to send me that, so like a good mailing citizen, i sent out a thank you card the next day. i've sent my mom and brother birthday cards so far, but i'm looking forward to writing much more! it upsets me that people (at least our age) don't use the postal system as much as they should. if more people logged off of facebook, grabbed a pen and wrote a good ol' letter or card, the united states postal service would be much better funded and the special feeling of receiving a letter or package could be passed on through our generation and all the ones to come. the blue mailboxes around campus are waiting for you...