The Most Loyal Pen Pal Ever

The other night, our daughter had a sleepover with one of her friends who's eight.

At dinner, she asked Lauren (our eight-year old) if she had an email address.

"No, not yet, but everyone keeps asking me when I'm going to get one.  All our friends have one.  Mom, why don't I have an email yet?"

For several minutes, this inquiry went 'round and 'round.

And then Lauren asked her sweet little friend, all forty inches of her, "Heather, do you really GET emails.  I mean, how many emails do you get?"

"Oh, man, tons.  I get tons of emails."

"Really?" our daughter asked incredulously.

"Sure.  I mean, like, for every email I send, I get at least one back."

And then my wife chimes in.  "Heather, WHO emails you?  Your family, Pottery Barn, who?"

"Oh no, not Pottery Barn.  I don't know them and they don't know me."

"So, who?" my wife continues, the hint of a smile creeping across her face.

"Well, my sister has an email at veroozon and my grandma has one at yee-haw, so I email them all the time.  But most of the time, the person that writes me lots is postmaster."

...

I gotta tell you, dear reader, I'm standing at the sink washing my dish when she says this and, I swear, hand to God, as soon as she matter-of-factly chirps, "the person that writes me lots is postmaster," I laughed and snorted so hard snot came flying out my nose.  My wife and I guffawed so hard and so long that I thought we were going to have to leave the kitchen or enter the restroom.  Several days later, my sides still ache.

Her second biggest pen pal is...wait for it...mailerdaemon.

...

The kid's got spunk, to be sure.

Here she is, prattling on and on about her active social life with postmaster and mailerdaemon.  Two phenomenal pen pals...the kind who ALWAYS write back when one sends emails to people with unique domains like 'veroozon' and 'yee-haw.'

Gosh almighty, kids are wonderful, aren't they?

Write on, Heather, write on.