$1.44 is what a single standard size mail stamp costs, or $1.24 per stamp if you buy the booklet of ten. It seems a lot for a little sticker in the corner of an envelope. But moving away from home taught me the price of these stamps, and their worth. While I intermittently send letters to my family, the main benefactor of my stamp purchases is the last remaining friend I have from high school.Â
We moved in literal opposite directions after only knowing each other for a few months. I don’t remember the conversation, if there ever was one, but we started sending each other letters. This soon escalated to including tea, handwritten playlists, creative writing, stickers, and whatever pieces of our lives and love fit in the envelopes. We can’t see each other often, and frankly, we don’t even text substantially, but we can hold our friendship — it’s in a file folder in my closet, and in a box at her house. I won’t ever do the math, because I already know the stamps are worth more than their cost.Â