Collecting stamps

“Grandpa Joe started me with my own children’s beginner album when I was about 10 years old, the kind where you can place the real stamps over the pictures when you find them on mail. I’d visit on weekends sitting at the dining room table with my beginner album, stamps, tweezers and hinges while he’d place his new issues in the bright red Elbe springback albums I aspired to use one day. The feeling I had every time I’d go to his home and watch him open the coat closet to pull a small suitcase from the high shelf excited me to no end! Inside there were envelopes with stamps from hundreds of places around the world, and I would be able to sort through those to find what I’d want to put in my album that day.”

“Whenever I would travel, we’d go to the local markets of that place and most of them had at least one antique store. Most of these antique stores also had old stamps from that place and I would buy a few to add to my collection. I love how stamps tell a story of a period in time. I like how they are used to commemorate events and historical figures. I also started collecting loads of stamps of various ships from the navy of various countries. Through this journey of stamp collecting, I came across stamps of all sizes and of various shapes too — like circle stamps, oval stamps, and triangle stamps!”

“Working in Washington, DC for the Federal Government was stressful — and supervising a legal office of attorneys and dealing with political appointees amplifies that stress. I found that puttering with my stamp collection provided me with peace and relaxation. It also had a calming effect after a difficult week. While a bad day fishing still beats a good day at the office, working on my stamps was even better, especially during the winter months.”