SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED

Sitting at my trestle desk, I look outside through a large window and can spot the neighborhood postbox. Whenever the mail truck stops to unload, I feel a little excitement. Because I love mail — letters, magazines, checks, bills, it doesn’t matter. An empty mailbox is a sad day.

As a girl, my mother made me write “thank you” notes to Grandma for Christmas and birthday presents. When I turned 12, she gave me my first monogrammed stationery, with Valerie Lucille Burkhardt, River Road, Titusville, New Jersey printed atop in cranberry ink. I treasured each sheet of that ecru paper.

Spending the summer of 1959 in Norway as a high school exchange student, I eagerly awaited Mom’s blue aerograms, those thin, lightweight pieces of foldable gummed paper filled with family news. It was like receiving a hug from home. Years later as a new bride, I spent months writing appreciative notes for silver candle sticks and Lenox platters. Letter writing was never a chore; it was like brushing my teeth, something I did without thinking too much about it.

Following in Mom’s footsteps, I also made my kids pen thank you notes to their grandparents. Happily that took root because now, every other week or so, a sweet note arrives in the mail from one of them. Just yesterday 10-year-old Henry sent a long hand-written letter detailing every stroke and putt of his recent 10-and-under golf tournaments.

I also feel a personal attachment to the Post Office Department because, in 1960, my father was named Assistant Postmaster General by President John F. Kennedy. Visiting Dad’s office is etched in my mind. His massive oak desk flanked by flags was a 50-foot walk from the door over a thick Oriental carpet. The room was cavernous. (FYI, today Dad’s office building is the Trump International HoteI.) 

None of us kids thought Dad possessed spectacular postal talents. His  position in 1960 was actually a political plum because, in truth, he was a savvy politician who got governors, senators and presidents elected. Within a year of his appointment, he was back in New Jersey successfully spearheading a gubernatorial campaign.

I’m not happy that the United States Postal Service is in crisis. I don’t like that cost-cutting measures, a lack of overtime for postal workers and a limit on the number of trucks needed to deliver mail are causing delays and despondence in what 91% of Americans consider “their most popular governmental agency.” 

Admittedly, most of my correspondence today is via email. That never stops me from buying funny cards and cute notepaper whenever I get the chance. Because I know this: a handwritten note will never go out of style and will always be appreciated. I just hope I keep getting them.

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Postal Pertinency:

Ben Franklin was our first Postmaster General. He was appointed in 1775, before the Constitution was approved. 

The first United States postal stamps were issued In 1847.

The Pony Express started delivering mail in 1860.

The first post cards were issued in 1873.

The first airmail letters were sent in 1918.

Zip codes were introduced in 1963.

Adhesive stamps became available nationwide in 1992.

A first class stamp costs 55 cents today. In the 1800’s, a first class

stamp cost 3 cents (or 49 cents in 2018 dollars).

In 2016, more than 41% of all ballots were cast before Election Day. Of the total turnout, 24% were cast using by-mail absentee voting.