Today we bring you a friendship story that went beyond borders to bring together Carrick (aka geocarrick) from the USA 🇺🇸 and Milad (aka orange_memo) from Iraq 🇮🇶! Carrick tells the story of how they first got in touch, and eventually met.
Milad contacted me the first time back in September 2010 asking for direct swap, and since I never had received postcards from such a rare country like Iraq, I was thrilled! We swapped a couple of postcards, which I received in November 2010.
I mentioned to him that I’ll send him a postcard from Shanghai World Expo 2010 since I was going there. At the time, I enjoyed visiting the Iraqi pavilion and tasted the famous Iraqi dates over there.
On July, 9th 2011, and much to my surprise, I received Milad’s mail address through the Postcrossing system and mailed him the “Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum postcard” (US-1200218) which he received and registered on July 20th, 2011.
Milad and I kept writing to each other through Postcrossing from time to time. We both enjoy swapping postcards, penpaling and traveling, making new friends and learning new languages and cultures.
On May 2012, Milad wrote saying that his sister and her family were moving from Baghdad to Anaheim (California). At the time I lived close to Anaheim and my postbox was there too, so he wrote to tell me the news and let me know he was going to send some postcards with his sister for me. I met his sister and her family in December of 2012, and got another set of beautiful postcards from Iraq.
We kept exchanging postcards and news from time to time, and on April 2016, Milad let me know he was going to try his shots and apply for a visit visa from the American Embassy in Baghdad. In order to do that though, he needed a sponsor letter. I decided to help him and provided him with an invitation/sponsor letter, and after a lengthy process and much anticipation, Milad was granted his visa and came to California. We were very excited to finally meet on Sep. 22nd 2016. We went to Rodrigo’s Restaurant in Anaheim-CA for a nice dinner (Milad’s first time trying Mexican food) and two days later and on Sep. 24th 2016 I took him on his first-ever visit to Disneyland resort to celebrate his birthday.
We always tell our friends and fellow postcrossers that it’s truly a small world, and how postcards and Postcrossing can shorten distances and build friendships. It’s been almost 4 years since we first met in real life, and we’re still talking about that. We’ve had trips to Disneyland twice and to OC Fair
Thank you Carrick and Milad, for taking the time to tell your story! We love hearing about the friendships and connections that postcards bring to life. 😊
92 comments so far
Wonderful connection!
what a great story and to see and learn what Postcrossing means to all of her participants, Wonderful job,
This is the most beautiful thing I have read in a while. Wonderful! 🧡
Cool story.
Long live postcrossing!
This story makes my day! ♡♡♡
I really enjoyed reading this blog post! I wish you a long friendship both of you! I remember I sent a postcard to Carrick almost two years ago :) It's CZ-1516490 and it was sent to Anaheim back then. He really liked the sent postcard!
Just beautiful!!
thank you
Wonderful story ^-^
Fantastic! I have yet to meet any of my postcard friends in person but I have made some wonderful connections here too! 💖
Wonderful story. Postcrossing offers so many opportunities to bond. I started Postcrossing in Nov. 2012, and I still have penpals from that beginner's time, taking part in their lives for example from university to work etc. It's so enriching.
Lovely! Viva la Postcrossing!
This is so wonderful. It's a fairy tale. And a dream come true. Thanks for the inspiring friendship! Hope to be as lucky as them one day.
This is fantastic!!
Awesome story. There are no borders in Postcrossing, no strangers - only friends we haven't 'met' yet. 😃👌
This is such a lovely post and I am more than happy that postcrossing makes lasting connections! Beautiful news in such a strange times. Wishing you both all the best!
Very nice story.
glad to read your stories, thanks for sharing...
i received a card from Carrick two years ago, US 5616355, so happy with it, one of my theme collection (Y)
This is a wonderful story!
coool- i am from iraq-
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful story!
Look up JP-171165 with the sentiment Welcome to our Wondrous Circle of Friends! That sums up what Postcrossing is. Postcrossing has made the world a much smaller but better place.
It's a small world after all!
What a great story!
Postcrossers = global ambassadors for friendship, kindness, hands reaching across oceans, borders, cultures.
Carrick and Milad inspire an Idea for a January 2021 prompt: Words to spread peace and caring around the world.
What a great story! It goes to show we’re all closer and have so much more in common than we think.
I was lucky enough to receive an excellent postcard from Carrick recently. I hope he and Milad continue their friendship for life!
Happy to see your stories here, fellas! And I was so delighted to meet them both a couple years ago in Glendale for a meetup.
This is such a fantastic story!! I loved reading this! I am still penpals with some members that I met back in 2007 when I first joined. Thank you for sharing this amazing story!
What a wonderful story! Years ago while working at my job in a planetarium, a military family attended a show I was giving. A young girl shared that her father was stationed in Iraq. She asked whether he saw the same stars as she did when she looked up at the sky at night. That happens only if the two places are located at roughly the same latitude. Uncertain of Iraq's location, I double checked and found that our latitude (~37° N) was a match for Iraq. I was pleased to give this young person the reassurance that, despite the distance, yes, she and her dad were indeed still sharing the view of the same stars.
As this rough year comes to a close, how wonderful it's been to have Postcrossing at our disposal to remind us on a regular basis just how much we have in common with the people with whom we share life on this planet. And perhaps more importantly, Postcrossers are not just unthreatened by each others' differences, but genuinely curious about them.
What a happy story and great photos! It warms my heart when I hear about such meetings since my dream is to meet many of my pen pals and postcard friends from 1977 to date.
I've met Carrick & Milad through the Snail Mail Social Club in Montclair, CA (pre-pandemic). Two very engaging gentlemen. Postcrossing is such a great way to make new friends--we already have something in common!
I love this story! Thank you for sharing!
Great story! How fun!
Oh, what a heartwarming story of this two not-so-different men. :)
While "exploring" members/countries on the Postcrossing site several years ago, I "met" a gal in Germany who lived in a town very close to the small town where we lived when my husband was stationed in a nearby military base over 30 years prior. I sent her a note through Postccrossing and we exchanged some postcards. It turned out that she also knew the landlady from whom we rented our off base apartment, then, so she connected with her and we shared a snail-mail reunion. My new friend and I wrote for awhile until life took some turns. But I cherish how Postcrossing does indeed bring folks together. I love these stories.
10/10 wholesome
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful story. Keep on exploring together.
Thank you both for sharing this life story. I love the picture with Mickey Mouse, as a Disney fan, it's always nice to see Mickey popping up in photo's.
Such a heartwarming story and just shows what is possible when we dare to reach out a hand in genuine friendship 👋
Amazing story! I've had a few notable moments that've spawned from Postcrossing, but nothing like this. I really do wish you two the best :)
Thank you all for your kind words and feelings, it warmed my heart and I'm grateful to meet each and everyone in this big family of Postcrossing, I always mention to my family, friends, and co-workers that a Postcard is like a flying ambassador, it closes up the distances and always build up friendship bonds, stay all safe and keep sending wonderful postcards.
Last but not least I'd like to thank Ana for having the time to share our story in the blog, Sherry ( Cherrytree687 ) for her help as she reached out to Postcrossing suggesting to share our story and to my buddy (Carrick) for 10 years and counting of wonderful support/comradery.
What a great story of Postcrossing & Friendship.
Wonderful!
It’s really a moving friendship!
Beautiful story. I have a friend in Russia -we met via Postcrosing in 2013. He is a young man and I am a 60 year old woman. But through postcards there was a connection and I treasure our ongoing friendship!
Hola amigos!
I also have a friend from Postcrossing, she's Dutch.
We've met three times, he's been home twice, and I've been in his once.
Fantastic!
We continue our friendship and our postcards!
Such a wonderful story! :D
It's a wonderful story of friendship.
A little bit of sweetness for the heart in this so troubled world.
A smile and sharing will always be stronger.
Thank you for sharing this kind of experience with us. It makes my day more beautiful.
What a nice story !
Regards from Brasil, HarryBrasil
Nice Story,
Perfect for the Holidays and our times.
Thanks for sharing.
What a fascinating story.
It is a small world after all.😊🎉🌎
Thank you for sharing.
Amazing story!
Amazing story, it really moved me. Thank you for sharing.
What a wonderful story of friendship! Thanks for sharing!
Milad's name sound so familiar! I remember I once had a private swap with Milad in the old forum many years ago. I found Milad's card early this year and I was amazed that I received a card from Iraq! What a nice interview! It's great to meet Milad and his old friend, Carrick! Thank you for sharing your wonderful story with us all!
I recognized Carrick's name - I sent him a card a while back. What a great story and friendship!
So wonderful! I have developed a few pan pal friendships through postcrossing. I am not sure if we will ever meet face to face, as we are all relatively short on money, health challenged and so on. But I'd love that.
I wish Milad and Carrick a long and lively friendship with many cool meetings.
This story touches my heart. How Wonderful
Amazing story, it moved me. Thank you for sharing. Thanks to Postcrossing and Postcrossers!
So funny to draw an Adress, write a card, go to the home page and see the person you just wrote to in the spotlight :)
Wow. An incredible friendship story!
Oh WOW! What a great story of friendship, postcards, and postcrossing!
I love this story! I just joined in April 2020 and have met lots of interesting people. And, I've received many beautiful and fun postcards. I've become Pen Pals with two and hope that I can tell you a similar story someday. Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful and heartwarming story of friendship through Postcrossing!
I really love the story. It makes me feel that the world is so nice.
Wonderful true story. Postcard really has magic power.
That's pretty cool! What a nice story.
Maybe if our elected officials were members of the Postcrossing community, the world would be a kinder, friendlier and better place. Swapping postcards is a fantastic way to learn about languages, history, culture and places. They’d learn that there’s more that unites us than divides us.
I loved this blog post about friendship and the enduring bond forged thanks to Postcrossing!
This is beautiful! Thank you for sharing! Postcards bring people together and help spread love and understanding. Postcrossing has brought so much joy to my life, I'm happy to read stories like this!
Thank you for the story and thank you for your Christmas card, Milad!
That's very cool and great story and postcrossing is cool :)
What a wonderful story to read about. Thanks for sharing.
A great story about Postcrossing's magic!
I have enjoyed a snail mail penpalling contact with Aleks from Belarus for almost three years now - and not about to end...
And about a year ago a very special contact to Fatou in Gambia started just by favouriting one of her sent cards. We were about to meet in March 2020 - but everyone can imagine why our trip there was cancelled... :-( We chat every day, it turned out that her mum (who passed away several years ago) was of my age and so she calls me "aunty" - heart warming! We really hope a vaccine against that crazy virus will enable us to meet soon!
Awesome story. I was delighted to read it. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful story.
Top story, great friendship. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing story. Friendship without borders!
Wow, I love this story!
Wow. That's a wonderful story :)
Love this!!!!!!
Greetings Carrick and Milad: I met you both at a meet up in Southern California, as I live between Disneyland and Hollywood. I have exchanged postcards with Carrick. It is truly nice to see such a friendship as yours. My best and continue the good vibes. -Gmansocal
I love reading Postcrossing friendship stories!
Heartwarming, thank you for sharing this story.
Hello. It is amazing. Bravo. Keep going. Have a nice day.
It's a wonderful story of friendship.
Thank you for sharing!
😍💕💙💚💛🧡❤️💜💖 🇮🇶 💗 🇺🇸
What a heart-warming story! I wish to have the same long-time friendship too (^.^)
Great story. I wish everybody in the world could have such a friendship.
💕 Great story 👍
Wow! This warms my heart. What a beautiful story to read and to look at the pictures with your faces smiling together is priceless!
Lovely story. I guess people need people to be happy!!!!
What an interesting experience to have in life. Milad and Carrick are very nice guys.
Just be impressed by this blog.
A warm story in such a cold day.
-5℃ in Shanghai ...
This is adorable
↑ Back to top ↑