About a year ago, I saw a blog post about a pair of sisters who, as a New Year’s resolution, committed to exchanging postcards once a week for a year.  My sister, Amanda, and I, thought it was a great idea, and we decided to do it, too.  For all of 2012, we sent postcards back and forth across the Atlantic, every week.

I’ve sent her lots of my favorite postcards from Vienna, a selection of some from the places we’ve travelled this year, and I even had some photos of the kids converted into postcards.  Benjamin and Liam sometimes select one for her — they’ve sent her ones with cows, oranges and snowy scenes (selected in August).  She’s sent me cards from Baltimore (where she lives), lots of beautiful seasonal ones, some old ones that she’s had around for years, and many, many photographs — some from the recent past, some from decades ago.

Living abroad, we send a lot more postcards, in general, than we receive.  It has been quite a treat to receive her notes, week after week.  I look forward to seeing what she sends each week, and to find out what she’s written on the back — her notes about what’s going on, what she’s looking forward to, how much she misses us.  Every so often one or the other of us misses one, or even a few, but then we catch up.  I’ve kept them all — I have my favorites displayed behind the TV in the living room, and another selection arranged around the mirror in our dining room.

I’m constantly on the lookout for new ones.  I’ve become quite a postcard connesseur.

Our year of postcards was over last month, but we’re not stopping.  It’s been a fun project, and it’s a wonderful way to stay connected with my sister.  (Thanks, Mina, for sticking with it!)