Friends by Mail

When I was a teenager, I had a subscription to Seventeen magazine. 

 I poured over each issue for weeks and anticipated the next delivery to our mailbox.  

Remember that?  

Waiting for things in the mail?  

When my kids were little, my mom gave me a subscription to Better Homes and Gardens. 

In those years, there wasn't a lot of time or budget for home decorating, 

so my BHG magazines were a wonderful outlet ... 

 I could look at beautiful homes and dream.

I kept those magazines until there were too many to have out all at the same time, 

so I grouped them and rotated the groups throughout the year.  

Later, Mom gave me her collection of Southern Living magazines
and occasionally I run across notes in them that she made to herself

about things she wanted to do with her house ... those are always sweet encounters.  

Eventually, I separated all my magazines into months so I can rotate them monthly (or thereabout). 

It's part of enjoying and celebrating the pleasures of each season.

These magazines have been around for so long, they're like old friends ...
the kind you can sit with for a long time, never say a word,
and walk away feeling like you had a great conversation. 

I don't subscribe to magazines anymore,
but I do kind of miss looking forward to opening the mailbox and finding a new issue.
But I've got plenty of these old friends to keep me company.