2016-02-20 10.58.29There it is folks: POBox 3368, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  My POBox.  Sort of.  Stoically square and unchanged for the past 50 years, with a single key as the keeper of secrets and memories.  It hasn’t always been my POBox of course, more of a family heirloom if you will, a throwback to the days before everything prefixed with an “e” or an “i”.

My grandfather was the one who requested the POBox in 1963 – that is a lot of water under the bridge, just in terms of the momentous historical happenings since (moon landings, Vietnam, you name it 3368 has been through it all – unmoved and unchanged.

Personally, I remember receiving letters from my high-school sweetheart when she moved away, my college acceptance letter, and more recently a copy of my father’s death certificate.

Really all this to say that in a world where technology is making our lifestyles evolve ever faster (and I am usually all for this mind you) – there is something to be said for having a few solid constants, something that grounds us, a “safe” place.  Whether this be a family cottage, grandma, or even just a simple Post Office Box.