We met as teens, so we’ve seen each other through ballet and boyfriends, husbands (one each) and kids. Distance hasn’t diminished our friendship. The talk is about books and recipes, these days, but when we get together we might as well be 15 and 16 again–light as air, fresh as daisies (her favorite flower)–for it seems like we’re that young again.

Now, her preschool-age boy is learning his letters, and so she thought it’d be fun to send letters–good, old fashioned paper, stamped and through the mail. My boys responded, in print and in cursive (a skill in-process), and included in their package a few googly eyes. Because every kids’ craft is better with googly eyes.

My friend reminded me of our days as teenage pen pals, before email. Yes, there was such a time. Family vacations. Summer ballet school. These were occasions when you wrote to your friends, wherever they were, and described your days. The sending was almost as exciting as the receiving. Postcards were good, but cards were even better.

Never have I received a prettier card than this one though–an old card made new with pasted paper inside and subtle threaded accents on the cover design. Can you see it?

Thank you, friend!

I’m chronicling our isolation with the help of WordPress Discover Prompts. This post was in response to Discover’s daily prompts: Distance and New. Care to join in? Read others’ responses here. My other prompts responses: