Postcards from Mo

Mo is an affectionate name my mother acquired about seven years ago when I tried adopting and domesticating a feral cat I had named Moses. Somehow in the naming of that cat, from it came my mothers’ new nickname of Mo. The cat could not be domesticated and eventually returned to the wild yet the nickname has hung around for my mother. That explaining who Mo is.

Mo has passion for most everything she does. She is one to put thought and feeling into her words prior to speaking, her postcards before sending and her love before giving. This is what makes her postcards, letters, emails, pictures and packages so special.

She recently took a trip to New York City. She had the privilege of staying on Broadway at Times Square at the Marriott Hotel. We talked daily and she would share with me the daily events as if I were with her. She took in a Broadway play and the sights and sounds of NYC. She observed the mass of people and cars and the trash on the sidewalks. She dined in elegant restaurants and shopped on 5th Avenue alongside other tourist and locals. She had her first ride in a limousine, took fabulous pictures and she bought postcards.

Each postcard was selected with each person she would send it to in mind. She would mull over the entire picture and description of the card prior to making her selection ensuring it would have a special meaning, phrase or notation of a connection she and the receiver would understand. Mo would then wait till the timing was right when she could sit down quietly and add her personal words of thought, love and meaning as if the receiver was experiencing or could experience the scene on the card with her. Her handwriting is flowing and beautiful with an elegance all its own.

Once the postcard has the sentiments written on it, now is the time to locate a stamp and send it on its way. Again, this is not something to be taken lightly. Mo wants the stamps to represent the postcard, trip and a memory made. It is important for her to select the right stamp symbolizing something significant, as with the postcards. Oh yes, the postmark is as important as the process of selecting the card, stamp and right words. She wants to ensure the postmark is from the place in which she is visiting. She creates a unique souvenir for the recipient thus being the small, flat package of a postcard decorated with meaningful words and stamps sent with love from Mo.

Mo mailed two postcards to me while she was on her trip to New York City. She was home at least a week or so prior to them showing up in my mailbox though. I still enjoyed opening the mailbox door and seeing the postcards waiting for me with their bright and sunny greetings and love from Mo. I examined the postcards and took in each word she had written. I observed the stamp and smiled at the small gift sent from New York City, stamp, postmark and all. Each card was meaningful in one way or another. I could feel her enthusiasm as I took in the contents and meaning of each postcard fully decorated from Mo to me. I thanked God for giving me a mother that found joy in small acts of kindness in something as simple as a postcard.
The next time you receive a postcard from Mo, take a good look at it and see if you can recognize the connection she is making with you. Know the gift was not a frivolous act grasped at the last minute but a cherished momentum selected and sent with much passion to someone she cares a great deal about.