I checked my mail today, and there was something unusual in it. An enveloped that was hand-addressed. Not a bill, not junk mail, a real piece of mail... with a stamp and everything. Now, you might expect these at your birthday, or a holiday, but in the middle of the summer? I was excited...

Until... I opened it. It was just some pieces of paper from my friend, E., who lives in Hawaii. I am helping him with something and it was just paper to go with the project. No letter, no drawings, just... one more thing I need to do.

I miss letters. My first year of college was 99/00 and even though the internet was prevalent on all college campuses, we still sent letters to each other. Sure, it took longer and the news in the letter was already spread in an email.. But you had something tangible, something you could see, handwriting. It told you a bit about a person, paper type, pen choice even pen color all told you just a little bit of something about the originator. In addition, how special did you feel when you received a real letter from someone other than your mom???

Sometimes I feel like moving to Seattle is going away to college, part two... with a nicer "dorm", more expensive "stuff", and a way better car. Just... it is harder to meet new friends, and real life responsibilities are so much more complicated than just making sure you wake up 5 minutes before class starts.

Yeah, it is super similar... Only this time I am 2100 miles away, rather than 400. Oh, and when my doctor asked for a local emergency contact... I put my mom's cell number, in Detroit.