High Points

I find myself looking forward to certain times of the day. Do you do that? That first cup of coffee to jump-start  the morning, visits with friends, a trip to Crystal Bridges. Of course,  the happiest times are when my family comes through the door and I hear their voices. That brightens my heart like the sun brightens the dawn.

Another high point of the day is when the mail comes. All my life I’ve looked forward to seeing what the mailman puts into that metal box. Of course now “you’ve got mail” means that email has shown up on the computer, which is great. But the old mailbox out front has been a connection with the world for many years.

We pretty much take getting mail for granted but it wasn’t always so. My mother told me how mail first came to her childhood home at Etta Bend:

In the early 1900s, the people of the Etta community seldom received mail. The nearest post office was in Tahlequah, more than 15 miles away by horse or wagon over rough country roads. A traveler to Tahlequah must ford the Illinois River twice and Barron Fork Creek once. No bridges arched these streams and some of the fords ran dangerously deep and swift.

When someone in the community went to Tahlequah, he stopped at the post office and picked up mail for any of his neighbors… The people…signed and sent a petition to Washington, D. C. asking for a post office. The government approved the request and appointed my mother (this would be Mom’s mother) Mary Edna Latty, as postmistress.

The postal department in Washington requested a name for the new post office…Uncle George Forrest sent the name of his wife Etta. Ever after, the name of the post office and the community was called “Etta”.

The train brought the mail for Etta to Stilwell. It came in heavy canvas bags, securely locked. Only the postmistress was authorized to unlock them. At first the mail came once a week, then later, three times a week. The salary of the postmistress was the cancellation or price of the stamps on mail sent out. Postal cards were one cent; letters were two cents. (The Heritage of Etta Bend by Blanche Day Manos).

Times have changed considerably in the past century and the way we get mail is one of them. Mail was important to the people of Etta a hundred years ago and it’s important to people today. Letters arrive quickly and easily. They come every day but getting mail is still one of the high points. I remember as a child, going down our long driveway to the mailbox on the road. It was always fun to see the bundle of letters that lay there. If the envelope bore the address of one of my two  brothers who were  in the Navy stationed in Japan and Iceland, it was exciting for the whole family.

Now the mail arrives each day a few feet from my door or inside, via email. A cup of hot, black coffee, a comfortable chair, and I am ready to enjoy my connection to the outside world and send out a few letters of my own.