It's been a while since I've found time to post on here, but I'm back with some thoughts on letter-writing. :) It’s a shame that people don’t put the same amount of time and care into correspondence as they did in the past. I sort of miss the days when people wrote letters back and forth to each other. I do still send lots of birthday and holiday cards, but admittedly, it’s much faster and easier to keep in touch on a regular basis with people through email. What I’m noticing lately is that people are doing so much more communicating via text messaging. I agree that it has its benefits, but what I don’t like is when I take the time to craft a lengthy email to someone and then I get a brief response back from their smartphone. It makes me wonder if they really soaked up all of the words, thoughts, and sentiments that I took the time to put together just for them.
I sometimes reminisce fondly of that intoxicating frame of mind from many years ago when I would eagerly await a letter in the mail (or wonder what treasures might be dropped off by the mailman) and bounce into the house from the mailbox upon receiving something fun and/or unexpected from a friend. Nothing quite compares to the whole experience from anticipation to ripping open an envelope and reading carefully sculpted thoughts...written with a pen! ...and then sitting down at some point afterwards to write a response to that valued friend. Sure, email captures some of that same rush, but it's just not quite the same.
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Oh, Brett, I miss those days, too. Especially when it come to international friends. I loved that thin Air Mail paper and envelopes! Loved looking at the stamps that were on the front, checking the postmark date to see how long it took the letter to get from Italy or Belgium or Australia to Wisconsin or Illinois ;). Sigh. And I also loved seeing the distinctive handwriting of a friend or sometimes find a picture they'd sketched in the margins. It's rare to get something wonderful like that in the mail anymore... (Although your beautiful handmade cards come close! ;)
Thanks for the compliment about my cards, Marilyn. :) And thanks for the reminder about the thin Air Mail paper!! I haven't seen any of that for such a long time, and now that's another thing that I miss. :)
Oh crap Brett. I loved those days too. Especially the getting mail part. I think I felt that it marked a change in my status when I saw an envelope marked with my name. I was somebody. However, now I'm lucky if I get time to pick up the phone or click "like" on a comment in someone's status on facebook. It's kids and a husband and work, but it is also--honestly--the fact that I choose to spend my down time in other ways.
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