DID YOU GET THE MAIL?

The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. It is an independent agency of the United States Government. Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster General. The first postage stamp was introduced in 1847. Since the beginning of the Postal Service the mail has been delivered by Pony Express, Horse and Bugy, Stagecoach, Motorcycle, Boat, Pneumatic Tube and all motorized vehicles.

For centuries people have waited for the mail to arrive. Some people had mailboxes on their front porch. Others had a mailbox in front of the house. Some people when I was growing up had a fancy front door with a mail slot in the door. The mail carrier would slide the mail through the slot and people would usually find the mail on the floor of the front hall.

People would write letters to friends and relatives in other cities, states and even countries.

Friends and relatives would mail picture postcards when they went on vacation. "Hi we are in Miami Beach great weather having a good time." In the early 1980's I was in New York City for a month training for a new job. I would send picture post cards back saying, "hello from New York been very busy from my office window I can see the Statue of Liberty." It's what you did when you were away.

The list could go on and on. Letters from kid's away at summer camp. Advertisements and invitations. Thank you notes, and bills to mention a few mores items that regularly came in the mail. Like everything else the mail changed.

A new invention arrived a number of decades ago. Electronic mail. Something called e-mail. I-Phones and texting. The new world of social media had arrived. We can now be in touch with people anywhere, anytime, anyplace. Writing letters and sending post cards went the way of the dinosaur. Companies now mail bills electronically. Birthday cards, holiday cards, etc. just send an e-mail or text. You can call someone anytime any place and they will answer. If they don't answer just leave a voice mail. It is called progress.

Yet, something has not changed. We still have mailboxes and people are creatures of habit. My wife and I are retired. We now live in a community that has the mailboxes at a central location. Just about everything that used to come by U.S. mail comes by some sort of electronic form of communication. But every day one of us will say just as I believe most of our friends and neighbors do. Just as people all over the world probably still do. Did you check the mail? Did you pick up the mail? Do want to take a walk to the mailbox.

We still like the mailbox. It's like an old friend. We feel secure knowing it's still there. Maybe it gives us a little goal or appointment every day that we want to keep. Maybe it's a connection to days gone by that we are not ready to give up.

Make sure to check the mail every day you don't want to miss anything!

WRITTEN BY RONNY TURETT

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