Written by: Greg Asimakoupoulos
Some years ago, I purchased a stamp collection at the thrift store. It was no ordinary collection. My purchase included a number of stamped envelopes and postcards with first-day-issue postmarks. My favorite ones are those that celebrate our nation’s history.
This is the month Uncle Sam celebrates his 250th birthday. While he is dealing with some challenging issues that come with age, our favorite uncle is ready to party. After all, the occasion at hand is definitely deserving of a party. It’s a party worth writing home about.
And speaking of writing home, letter writing is not as common as it once was. All the same, there is nothing quite like the joy you feel getting a handwritten note from someone you care about. That feeling is magnified when what they share is good news.
Benjamin Franklin, one of our founding fathers who is credited with creating our nation’s postal service, knew that feeling. And I’m fairly certain Ben would be pleased that we are still utilizing a system by which letter carriers personally deliver our mail.
Our nation’s history, which we celebrate this month, also includes the Pony Express. Those original mailmen on horseback set in motion the distance and speed with which our mail continues to be conveyed. It’s true! Though the cost of mailing a letter has continued to climb. But when you stop and think all that a first-class stamp achieves, it’s amazing. I certainly can’t travel from Mercer Island to Miami for 73 cents,
The United States Postal Service may not be perfect, but it is one of the services on which we as a country have relied for a quarter of a millennium. And our local post office is noteworthy as well. In the twenty years our family has lived on Mercer Island, the clerks at the Mercer Island post office have come and gone. Some became friends. All the same, it continues to be a place where our needs are met by conscientious postal workers who model perseverance and patience.
As the sign outside the post office indicates, our current facility was built in 1961 when John F. Kennedy was our president. Although that sign lists names of people we have never met, it calls to mind the past on which our present has been built.
Happy Birthday, America! You have our stamp of approval!
