The sweetest gift was just delivered. No extra postage was required.

Nearly every year around the holidays, I’ve made it a point to snail mail physical holiday cards to friends and family around the country. In fact, many friends have come to expect my old-school cards each year!

What I didn’t expect was for Ms. Vangie – the Postal Service window clerk who recently assisted me in getting my envelopes mailed out – to send me a Christmas card of her own.

We live in a lazy digital world. Some of our dearest friends only seem to acknowledge our birthdays or other special occasions when automated Facebook notifications push them to do so.

No, Vangie and I haven’t “friended” each other on Facebook and we have no immediate plans to scan each other’s Snapchat QR codes.

What we do have is a shared need and appreciation for an authentic, un-automated and non-artificial connection to the people we meet along the way.

Come to think of it… Vangie and I don’t even have a way to text each other glittery GIFs for Valentine’s Day or animated American flags on the 4th of July. And I think maybe we’ll keep it that way. I’m already looking forward to exchanging cards with her next year!

Never underestimate the kindness of a stranger.