When I was a kid, John the Mailman became family to me. It started as a shy but friendly wave out the window, then a shy but friendly hello in the front yard, and blossomed into full conversations about school, and friends, and before I knew it he had become one of my best ones

During the summer and on school breaks, he let me tag along as he walked his route delivering letters to the neighborhood. We made up stories about the faraway lands the letters were often sent from. 2/

John the Mailman was an Army vet and full of stories. He told them vividly, just like my Grandpa. John the Mailman was always on time. 12:27 and never a minute later. I’ve been habitually late my whole life. He’d wait for me to put my shoes on and bounce out the door. 3/

I always looked forward to his company and how he treated me like I was the most special kid he’d ever met. John the Mailman and his wife had wanted children, but she got sick and couldn’t have kids. He treated me like his own. 4/

When I moved away to go to college, John the Mailman and I became penpals. I wrote about my adventures in Chicago and he wrote about the new kids who moved into the neighborhood. The year I graduated from college John the Mailman retired from USPS. 5/

He and his wife moved to the beach and I moved to NYC, but we never stopped writing. John the Mailman’s wife died the year I got engaged. He wrote that he was struggling to find things to look forward to after her death. John the Mailman danced his heart out at my wedding. 6/

He told me he was thrilled I had found someone to go with on endless adventures. We sent postcards from our honeymoon, and every subsequent vacation we’ve ever been on. 7/

Three years ago, I told John the Mailman I was having a baby. He cried happy tears and wrote a beautiful letter to my unborn son. It’s in his baby book. This past year we celebrated my sons 3rd Birthday in the beach town where John the Mailman lives. 8/

My boy gave John the Mailman an ice cream sundae with extra sprinkles. John the Mailman gifted him his stamp collection. I cried at the kindness of this sweet sweet man to give my busy little dude something he had spent his whole life collecting. 9/

This whole business of gutting the USPS feels so personal to me. John the Mailman was one of the most consistent parts of my childhood, and subsequently my adult life. 10/

I understand that it’s not the role of a postman to befriend kids along their routes, but John the Mailman nurtured my love of adventure and never made me feel silly for dreaming big of a world I would one day travel. 11/

I called John the Mailman today for Easter. He told me when he returned from the War he struggled to find a job that would provide him the stability he needed in order to thrive. The USPS was that for him. It gave him a good life...and he has added so much to mine. 12/

Go online and #buystamps. Do it for the hundreds of thousands of people who have found stability in an unstable world in working for the USPS. Do it for the little kids waiting at the window to wave. Do it for John the Mailman.