My name is Tom Nikolao. I'm seven years old, and I am a student in the 1st grade at the 5th public elementary school of Metamorphosi. When I was younger, I used to watch my grandfather who passed his time with colorful bits of paper. I didn't know what they were, nor what they were for. So I asked him about them. Grandfather smiled, sat me on his knee, and started to tell me a story.

"My boy, these are called postage stamps. We buy these at the post office, and we attach them to envelopes so that they will be mailed to someone. The money charged for the stamps pays for the delivery of the envelope."

Grandpa opened an album and began to show me birds, animals, flowers, cars, ships, trains, people, all on such colorful bits of paper. I really liked them - especially the ones from Greece.

I then asked him …"Grandfather, tell me about the first Greek stamp." Again he smiled, and asked me if I knew who Hermes was. I answered him that Hermes was the messenger of the ancient Greek gods of Olympus.

He said…"Yes, that is indeed so" and he continued "Many years ago, it was decided to issue the first Greek stamp showing the head of the messenger god". He showed me some of these old stamps with the head of Hermes.

He also showed me more Greek stamps, different from the first. And as he did so, I understood that each of these colorful bits of paper had a story to tell - of ancient gods, of the heroes of the revolution, of presidents and kings, of wars, and many other things. I decided that with grandfather's help, I too would start to collect stamps and learn about the stories they told.

Tom Nikolao