nostalgia.

i randomly re-read the cards from my best friend that have been on my bedside table since i got them before going to bed. well that put me on a card re-reading streak and i ended up looking at and reading all the cards i have saved. holy nostalgia! it was so weird to look back at cards and letters people sent me from michigan after we moved down here to north carolina, 10 years ago. and see all the valentines and christmas and birthday cards. all of the cards from my dad for valentines days makes me smile and laugh. i feel like a little kid again when i read the cute cards with bears and pink all over them from my daddy. something that made me laugh out loud was that he got me the same card twice! well not the exact same card, they looked different, but they said the exact same thing. they both read 'happy valentine's day to a daughter who's really got it all! ... all over!' haha. and i loved seeing all the cards over the years from my grandparents. and reading letters and birthday cards from my sister, often mentioning something about her always being older than me even if i grew bigger than her. and the cards from mom are always nice. i can immediately tell whether she wrote it. the way she writes my name and signs 'mom' is engrained in my brain and hasn't changed much over the years. oh the dependailty of family. i have quite a few cards and notes from past teachers. most of them i remember, but some of them i don't at all. do teachers still write letters to their past students? i apparently had a runny correspondance with one past teacher, whom i don't even remember at all now. and lots of thank you cards. to people really write handwritten thank you cards anymore? i loved reading the progression of postcards and letters from my childhood best friend rachel. there a few postcards from her from her and her family's europe travels, where it is rather hard to read her handwriting and there is obvious mom handwriting clarifying things. especially from elementary school friends (and some middle school ones too), it's amazing how many people i'm 'best friends for life' with whom i don't remember the last time i spoke with. i wonder who they've become, what they'd think if they saw who i've become. some of my other favorite cards are from my best friend, whose letters started this late night card-reading craze. even when we were having our disagreements, she talks about how much she loves me and that nothing could come between us. i love it. i also loved re-reading the few notes i got from new friends at college. its interesting looking back at a note from the beginning of the year because of a bstud thing from someone i've grown to know and care a lot about. the gradual shift in written evidence from purely friendly cordiality to care and compassion and love. seeing how far relationships have come the past year makes me excited for how much farther they can go in the next year or two. i almost feel tempted to become overly sad and remeniscient over all these past friends. but i know that God put them in my life for the time He did for a reason. and that even if i talked to them again, it would never be the same. one thing thats really good about card re-reading is that it's very self-esteem boosting. so often we read a compliment and promptly forget, not rememvering our good qualities and the thankfulness and words of others when we're feeling down. not that i feel invincible or anything close from re-reading letters, but it's a great reminder of all the people in my life that cared (and still do). i'm very much a written person. like i love to get letters or cards from people. don't get me wrong, i love to talk. but a note or letter just feels so special. so much more than an email or facebook wall post or message. maybe i'm just nostalgic, but good old handwritten/handmade cards are the bomb dot com. in this craze i also looked at my elementary school yearbooks from michigan. it was amazing how many people's names i can still remember. i guess i just remember and notice a lot. looking through them i also realized how cool of a school webster is. having academically talented kids in the same school as the mentally challenged is really a cool idea. since i was not even 8 when we moved, i guess i didn't realize things. as one of the yearbooks says, it's a special school for special kids. oh! and guess what i found in one card? a perfect $5 bill. it's quite funny/ironic/wonderful really because we recently got an email about project and needing a $5 bill for the key deposit. $5 is not that big of a deal, but i was trying to think how i was going to get a $5 bill. well, God provided! :D well, i really should go to bed, seeings as it's almost 3am... ;)