I found a box of letters that friends had written to me – when I was in college – 30 years ago!
It’s like finding a time capsule.
The letters reminded me of things I’ve forgotten about in my own life. I knew that I went to Japan and Hong Kong when I was in college, but I didn’t remember exactly when. In the letters from a few friends dated 1978, they said, “Have a good time in Hong Kong, see you in a month.” So apparently my vacation was a month in the summer of 1978.
Some of the envelops showed the address of my apartment, and some had the address of my dorm. But do I really care??
Several cards had the character Ziggy on it. That round-headed sentimental cartoon was my favorite character then, prior to my meeting Hello Kitty on that trip to Japan in 1978.
I found a few cards from my second cousin whom I’ve just reconnected with on Facebook. I had forgotten we used to write to each other.
A few of my friends wrote me literally 5- to 6-page letters. I think I probably wrote them the same. Blogging was made for people like us. One friend in particular practically wrote sermons in those letters to encourage me in my faith. In one of the letters dated 1978, she said she just turned 30. I would’ve been 19 years old at the time.
In one of those letters from this friend, she told me a bit of her struggle as a 30-year-old single. I have not forgotten that stage of life when I too struggled with relationship issues. Being a single adult is probably the most unsettling and confusing stage of life that I have experienced. Yet, I also remember it as a time where this friend and I both learned to trust in God, wait on God, and find our ultimate contentment in Christ Himself. God used that time to draw me closer to Him, and to prompt me to commit myself wholly to Him.
Good ol’ days?? No, I look back with many regrets of my immaturity, and wish I had been a better friend to these friends. I am no longer in touch with any of them, and I can’t find them on Facebook.