Day 168: Free Mail

12/7/2011

In the times we are living in, mail is becoming less intrinsic to communication during this deployment. I get to talk to my husband more consistently via the phone and Skype than I could have ever hoped for. I am able to email my husband every night and he is able to email me back within a day or two.

Even with the virtually instantaneous communication, it is amazing the feeling that courses through me when I see a letter with the words "free mail" written where the stamp should be. Then I see the handwriting of the man I love in the address and get all excited. I even put it away for a little bit so I could get to a quiet place without the kids to read his letter. It gives me time to enjoy the letter he wrote to me. I love hearing from him the old fashioned way, written by hand, knowing he took time to sit down and write to me. There is just something romantic about hand written letters, especially in these times where they are rarely written.

Yesterday, I got a card in the mail from Ian and I took it to sit in my room by myself and read it. It was sweet and as I was reading it I heard Ian's voice in my head as if he were saying it to me. It brought the biggest smile to my face and a tear to my eyes. It reminded me of when he was in basic training and he wrote me whenever he had some down time. I loved getting those letters and checked the mail everyday for them, just waiting to see if I got one. It always managed to make my day better, no matter what happened, and yesterday was no different. Ian's letter was awesome and made my day.

Taking it day by day and getting closer to being with my husband again.