Do you remember when you were little? Before the age of cell phones and email, when a major form of communication was a piece of notebook paper and a rainbow assortment of pens? 

After forming the final afterthoughts, usually ending with a “p.p.p.p.p.s,” the finished product was safely tucked away into an envelope, sealed shut with a lick of the yucky tasting flap, stamped, and sent on its journey.  

I miss those days.The days when I eagerly ran down the driveway to check the mail box, disregarding my mother’s words that the mail did not come on Sundays. A close friend of mine had recently moved miles away from our small suburb that for years we both called home. Despite the distance, we agreed to the challenge of becoming each other’s pen pal. We wrote back and forth, bringing the other one up to date with latest crushes, weekend plans, even getting down to the specifics of what we had eaten for lunch that day.   

As a child, I would only ever receive letters from family members on my birthday, so getting a letter in the mail, on any day that wasn't July 30th, was extremely special. Finally, a midst all the bills and magazines, there was something in that mailbox addressed to me. After weeks of waiting, the excitement and surprise of what lay hidden, tucked inside the envelope, was what kept me writing back for so long.     

Years went by and the number of letters I received grew fewer, until eventually I stopped writing and they stopped coming. I was too worried about the hallways of the eighth grade to find the time to write back.     

That was my biggest mistake. I realized this even more as I went off to college, 690 miles from home. All of my lifetime friends had either moved away, or I had left them. From attending a completely different high school than most of the people I grew up with, to being one of the few in my friend group to go to a college a plane ride from home, I've lost touch with many important people in my life. For as different as the paths we've each taken may be, all of these friends that have come and gone have all added something important to my life.     

I look back on the letters I sent back and forth as a child and wished I had never stopped writing. I am so thankful for each person that I have met throughout my life, and it is important to continue to reach out and let them know. In the past, this is something I have struggled with; however, I told myself that this year I would reconnect. 

It’s important to stay in touch with old friends, for strong relationships make us happier people. So go send that text or that email. Or better yet, pick up the phone — you’ll be happy you did.     

So now, let me finally go finish that letter.