What a treasure friends are, and the most valuable thing I own

i just got the loveliest email from a friend...all about her Christmas activities and things going on around her house and funny things about her new puppy.  What a treasure that was...just normal stuff going on but how nice to be included.  It reminded me of the letters people used to write 40 years ago....I had several friends I exchanged letters with and it was so fun to open the mailbox and find a letter from a friend or from family.  My youngest grandson told me at school their teacher had them write letters to their parents as a gift.  What a lovely idea.  One year, and I have probably written about this before, but one year when my kids were all in early adulthood my younger son built a box just a little larger than a legal sized envelope and had his brother and sisters write letters to me to add to his in the box for a present.  It is the most valuable thing I own.