It’s strange how the past comes back in the most unusual ways.
Our middle daughter is six weeks into her five month long Japanese study abroad program. She worked so very hard to make it happen and it’s exciting for everyone as this is her first living away from home experience. I’m curious to see how she will have changed upon returning after having to take care of herself for so long. Scavenging for her own food, being responsible for her own needs, having to figure out how to do things on her own with no parent to get help from and so on (parents of freshly minted adults know what I mean).
Not yet 20, she’s part of the generation that loves their phone but not for making calls. Our carrier has a decent phone plan for international traveling which is good because she thought she would have access to our Netflix and Hulu accounts to help keep her up on her favorite shows and entertained during down times. That didn’t work out quite the way she planned. Fortunately, she takes after her father in her love of going places and just getting out and about. From her posts on Instagram, this has served her well since even though she has made friends to go sightseeing with, she has no problem exploring on her own. Having her phone keeps her from getting to lost, both literally and figuratively, more importantly for her though, she has a camera to take and post pictures from.
Photos from Japan
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She had only been in Japan for a couple of weeks when we unexpectedly received a call from her. Unexpected because this child would rather not do something important to her than have to make a call for information or an appointment. Still, there she was on the other end of the phone, excitedly telling us about her adventures when she said the strangest thing. “So…I haven’t received any care packages or letters from anyone yet.” Letters? Like actual written letters? Both her dad and I had chatted with her through Facebook messenger, these were short exchanges due to the time difference and because she has never been the most communicative of our kids so we felt like we were keeping in touch.
“Did you give us your address?” I asked, poking at her because I knew she hadn’t.
“You didn’t ask for it.” I swear there was almost a pout in her tone.
“You didn’t volunteer it either.” I responded. “If you want care packages and letters you need to tell us where to send them and what you want.” I am such a mean parent, expecting her to voice her needs.
Yes, as the more adult adult I should have asked her for her mailing address when she arrived at her new home but this particular child of ours is so low maintenance that sometimes the basics are forgotten. I never expected to write her letters but her dad and I, having both lived overseas in our younger days, should have remembered about the care packages.
Interestingly enough, she did want letters as well (it was a great justification for buying pretty stationary). I’m pretty sure the letters were wanted because other students were receiving them and there’s nothing wrong with it. That aside, there is also something about receiving physical mail, not just the electronic version, that is both fun and makes you feel warm and fuzzy when away from family and friends. It takes 2 – 3 weeks for a letter or package to reach her which means in this age of immediate information, the letters I’ve written to her contain information she already knows as most of the time if something is really worth talking about we’ve already posted it on Facebook, often with pictures. Knowledge she will already possess by the time my letter arrives.
She’s getting letters from the past.
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