Writing postcards
By David Krueger
I got an unforeseen day off on Monday when I woke up and my left eye was redder than a fire extinguisher. I had this feeling that I shouldn’t go to work and spread my eye infection to all my coworkers so I remained at home and got a few things done.
One of those things was writing postcards. I had been putting it off for about three weeks, and finally didn’t have an excuse anymore. It’s not that I don’t love my friends and family. It’s just that writing and addressing 15 postcards takes a while. Two and a half hours to be exact.
However, once I got on a postcard roll the time passed rather quickly. I figured out a “system” that for some reason I believed made the process go faster.
First, I addressed all the postcards. This is the biggest part of what caused the delay. I had to talk to my mother and father back in America to get addresses for 13 of the 15 postcards. Once I did that on Sunday, there was really no reason not to start.
After all of the postcards were addressed, then the process of actually writing messages began. This part took the longest, but it was by far the most fun. I had a rotation of stories that I could tell people based on what I thought they’d like to hear about.
For instance, my aunt and uncle who are very proud of my graduation from journalism school got to hear all about how awesome my job is. My friends back home in Marysville, where it rains a lot, got to hear about the rainy season. My father’s postcard began with a sentence in Krio.
The postcard to my mother assured her that I was doing fine and all of my friends and coworkers were taking good care of me, while the postcard to my grandparents talked about how much fun the family reunion in July looked based on the pictures I saw on Facebook.
I didn’t mention the eye infection in any of the postcards. It didn’t seem important enough to bring up.
There were a few similarities that each postcard shared. They all sent well wishes to the reader, hoping that their summer back home was going well. Each individual postcard was also dated (“8/8/11”) because I’m curious to see when they arrive at their destination. They are going all over the country, and even the world.
One is going to my aunt and uncle in Tennessee, on the east coast of the United States. A few are going to family members in the Midwest, and a large contingent are on their way to Washington State in the Pacific Northwest.
Now that I’m done and preparing to go to the post office to send these off once and for all, I’m realizing how therapeutic writing the postcards actually was. Yesterday morning wasn’t the best as I woke up with an eye that looked like it belonged to the Terminator.
But, as I wrote each postcard, and thought about some of the cool things I’ve done in the last month, I couldn’t help but smile as I realized what an extraordinary trip I’ve had. And I’m not even half done! That mark comes on Thursday.
I really began to appreciate all I’ve been through so far. The more I wrote “8/8/11” the more I couldn’t believe that it was already August 8th.
As soon as I finish writing this I’m going to run to the post office and ship these postcards off. I’m excited for them to reach their various destinations. I hope that they bring smiles to those who read them. I want someone to see a postcard in their mailbox and get really excited. I’m pretty sure that none of my friends and family have a postcard from Sierra Leone already.
The one, minor concern I have is whether or not the postcards will arrive. Any time something is shipped from one continent to another there are a number of chances for it to get lost. But I’m going to put my trust in the Sierra Leone and United States Postal Services, and hope that they can deliver my postcards for me.
I’m not going to go so far as to say it was a good thing I woke up Monday morning with an eye infection, but the negative occurrence was able to have a positive impact on my life and the lives of 29 people soon to receive postcards (some are addressed to entire families). I like turning bad events into good results.
It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, and triumphed over adversity.
The worst thing about eye infections, which I get back home way more often than I’d like to admit, is that I cannot wear my contact lenses. I have to wear my glasses if I want to be able to see, which I usually do. Unfortunately, I strongly dislike wearing my glasses. They’re too big for my head, and make my face look kind of funny.
On the other hand (or in this case, the other eye) the infection could have been a lot worse. My eye already almost looks normal, minus the glasses that are hanging over them. Plus, I finally had the time and energy to write 15 postcards, and send greetings from Sierra Leone across the world.
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