Treasure In The Mail

Look at the treasure I found in our mailbox today. Letters, hand written letters ! Two letters were written to me by two of our granddaughters. I am their pen-pal and I love receiving their letters, but probably not near as much as they love receiving mine. ( I hope.) Another was a sweet thank-you from a beloved aunt and uncle. The 4th letter was from a cousin I've just begun an acquaintance with and she WRITES letters and sends interesting and informative e-mails about what is going on in her life. ( What I'd hoped e-mails would really be when I first began to go on-line.)

Writing letters used to be a big part of my life. Our mother had me and my 3 sisters writing regularly to our father when he was stationed over-seas in Vietnam (courtesy of the U.S. Army) and our many relatives scattered far and wide. Looking back on the part letter writing played in my family's life I see both my parents were conscientious letter writers and my father wrote many letters state-side too, keeping in touch with relatives, friends, writing letters to the editor of the local paper, and he always wrote special words of encouragement to our children in their birthday cards. All the letters and birthday cards he wrote to us are cherished to this day though he's been gone from this earth for many years.

For years after my husband and I were married I kept up a regular correspondence with my husband's great-aunts . I did not realize until they passed away that there were very few people who wrote letters to us left in this world. We were told if we would join the modern age ( actual words from family) and get e-mail we would hear more from our family and friends but that proved untrue. We got a lot of  forwards and just plain spam, but no real letters. With facebook now the current mode of keeping in touch we appreciate pictures of relatives far and wide and the ability to connect with them instantly, but even this is to me a pale comparison to a simple hand written letter. ( And don't get me started on facebook being the only way many people send out invitations and thank-yous for very important celebrations.) A hand-written letter or invitation shows the person (s) sending it took a small bit of time to personally write to me. A letter had to be written, an envelope had to be addressed, a stamp purchased, and after affixing the stamp to the envelope containing the letter or invitation, it had to be mailed. Not a lot of effort, but effort that shows someone cared enough . Someone cared enough to send treasure in the mail.

" It seems a long time since the morning mail could be called correspondence." Jacques Barzun

"Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company." Lord Byron

"What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can't re-read a phone call." Liz Carpenter