Minnesota woman uses her treasured postcard collection to stay connected with friends

Over the years, Mary Steinbicker has amassed quite the collection of postcards — she asked for them as wedding gifts, and always picks up a few while traveling — and as her 2020 New Year's resolution, decided she would send out one postcard a day, just to let a friend or relative know she was thinking about them.

The Minnetonka, Minnesota, resident didn't know it at the time, but this was the perfect resolution to make for a pandemic year. She kept up with her resolution, mailing one postcard a day, making sure to personalize each note. Some were sent for birthdays or other milestone occasions, and Steinbicker made it clear the postcard may feature a picture of an overseas destination, but she was hunkering down at home.

Sending postcards is "just a little different way to let people know there's somebody out there," Steinbicker told the Star Tribune. Her 174th postcard went to Kay Christianson, a longtime friend who lives in Linden Hills, Minnesota. After reading the card from Steinbicker, Christianson was motivated to start writing weekly letters to her aunt who lived in a nursing home and was unable to have visitors.

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Steinbicker is still regularly writing postcards well into 2021, and told the Star Tribune she wants her friends to know that despite the distance, "I'm still thinking about you. I hope people can rejoice a little bit in that."