Sunday, September 23, 2012

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

When I was in college, going to the PO (pronounced "p-oh", not "P" "O"... make sense?) was the highlight of my day. The PO was just outside the cafeteria (otherwise known as Chucks but that is an entirely different story) and was a regular stop with my friends after lunch.

At the time, our school was growing in student size and campus resources were playing catch-up. I shared a PO box with another student each year - whoever happened to have the next last name in alphabetical order after mine: High. (You didn't know that was my last name? Trust me, I've already heard any joke you can concoct with that last name.)


I remember spinning the combination to open my PO box and excitedly flipping through the stack of mail to see what was mine and what was Higenbottom's or whatever that other last name was. Invoices or bills? Groan. Test results or graded papers? Whatever. Inter-campus mail from peers? Kinda fun. A notice that I had a package too large to fit in my PO box and that it was waiting for me at Campus Security? Pure joy. Like the jump up and squeal out loud to your friends that you have real mail kind of joy.



During the past few years that Grady and I have spent time with the College age group at our church, it's been fun to periodically roam through the store and pick out lots of snacks and school supplies to stuff in large envelopes and mail to them. Because, let's be honest, an unexpected meal of Raman noodles and a new stash of microwave popcorn can make all the difference in pulling an all-nighter.


Now that the Fall semester is well underway, I decided it was time to get something put together and sent out. While Annalyse napped one afternoon, the boys were my eager and super helpful assistants. I arranged all the goodies in piles on the dining room table and they followed directions perfectly as they carefully walked around the table dropping one or two of each item into the envelopes. 


I think Micah may have snuck a couple of Hershey Kisses, judging by the brown smear on his chin (and yes, one small chocolate bite is enough for Micah to wear it on his face). Grady Lee was an all-star auditor and was quick to point out any items Micah missed or inaccurate quantities he took. 

Since I'm fairly sure not many of our college age friends read this, I think they'll still be surprised when they walk to their PO box sometime soon and discover they have mail. Real mail. Personal mail. The fun kind of mail!

3 comments:

  1. Fun! I had never even heard of Raman noodles until I met Matt in college! And what a difference a couple of years made at Cedarville. I only had to share a box freshman year and we got email notifications when a package arrived! What a blessing you are to those college students...and I'm sure your kids had a blast helping out!

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  2. Hm...I'm in need of some mail? :-) Eh? You guys are the best! So very thoughtful...going to be some very happy college students!

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  3. what a fabulous idea! stealing it. ;)

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