Letters from Mommy Abroad

The other day something strange arrived in the mail. It was a letter addressed to Tres and Mia from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!?!? When i first looked at the letter it took me a second to realize that it was a letter addressed to my children. (Of course i am familiar with the names of my children, but i rarely see correspondence addressed/sent to them via snail mail.) A second later, i recognized my own handwriting and the return address --Barra de Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Then it finally clicked: it was a letter i wrote and sent to Tres and Mia when i was at a conference there last month!   

Since i have had my chitlins and whenever i have to travel abroad on business, i write them a letter and send it to them. In the letters i tell them how much i miss them and their father, how i wish they were with me, how i can't wait to travel with them to the place one day, what i am doing there, what it is like, what major events are going on, etc... Then i mail the letter.  Usually several weeks or one month later the letter arrives. (It is called snail mail for a reason!) 

By the time the letter finally arrives, i have forgotten about the trip and writing the letter so when it comes, i am pleasantly surprised and so are the kids (Tres in particular, Mia not so much...yet).  The first thing the kids and i do with the letter is look at the stamps. Then we talk about how far the letter has traveled, and then open it up and read it together.  Afterwards, we put the letter in "the box" with the other letters from mommy abroad. 

Tres tells me that he loves to get the letters. I hope Mia will one day say the same thing and that when they both get older, they will still treasure them.  I have a similar box of special letters/cards that i keep. It contains letters from Gage, my family, and friends.  Every once in a great while, i pull out the box and go through it.  Rereading the old correspondence reminds me of all the wonderful things people have shared with me over the years and once again, how blessed we are.