Reminiscing

Ever since I wrote about the friendly mail carriers that I encounter daily, I have wanted to know more about each of them. They are all still unbelievably friendly and have the uncanny ability to make me feel better, even when I have been staring at a screen for so long that my brain feels numb.

"Well, hey stranger," he said. "Happy Friday."

Happy Friday indeed.

As always, we exchanged pleasantries, but today I probed a little further and found that my favorite mail services worker and I have something very specific in common. We were both collegiate athletes.

This is an area of my life that I do not revisit often. It is also one that provides a range of emotions that I may not still even be mature enough to handle. There was the pain, the sweat, the hardships that were too awful to discuss, and of course, dealing with the reality that it came to an end.

"It's something that you can't understand unless you experienced it," I said to him.

"You're right," he said. "But then you wish you could go back to that time and realize that once it's over, you're going to be doing this."

At that, we both laughed. Sitting in an office or delivering mail is infinitely less exciting--and less painful--than playing a sport, but that is where life takes most of us.

It was nice to be reminded of a time in my life that has passed. But it was even nicer to get to know a little bit more about my favorite mail carrier.