What got me started collecting?

My grandmother collected vintage posties and she and I would play with them when I was a child. Many came from estate sales and would be years of correspondence from a friend. (One sided, of course. LOL) Some of my fave memories were sitting with her on her bed, reading the messages outloud and wondering about what they were talking about and making up stories about them. She always promised that they would be mine when she passed on. When she did pass, in 2000 at the age of 90, my grandfather decided that it wasn't fair for me to have them all, so he split them up between myself and four cousins who did not share in any of the memories (since they were not raised with her like I was). (Note - her postcards were almost all greeting cards, not city ones.)

I started my own collection, beginning with a vintage postie of the VFW hall where my husband and I had our first date. It's grown from there, with me collecting vintage postcards of our fave places and our fair city here, Jacksonville Florida. (My collection is mostly place cards, not greeting.)

When I ran across Postcrossing, I thought this was a wonderful way to share my love of posties, the world, art, sending happy messages to strange people, etc.

It's such a nice feeling to send a card in the mail, knowing that there is a person on the other end that I have never met waiting for it, not knowing what it is or where it's coming from.