Last week, I wrote about the fact
that I had written a letter to my daughter – something I hadn’t done for a
painfully long time. This week, I continue making the case for the return of
the lost art of letter writing.
The internet is chock full of
lists of the wonderful things about letters. Here are a few selected items:
- They can share emotions and deep thoughts.
- They have a permanence and can be re-read and treasured.
- They are thought-out and not rushed; they are more of an event and more of a struggle than an email.
- They give the gift of time – it takes time to write them and it gives the recipient the freedom to decide if, when and how to reply.
- They build relationships.
- They have impact; they show somebody cares.
- They can’t be sent by accident!
When I began to think about it, I
realized that I’ve experienced many of these things. I keep cherished letters
from my long-deceased father in a special place. I discovered unknown relatives
in England by blindly replying to a letter sent by my great-great uncle to my
grandmother. I had no idea if anyone at that address knew of the family, but
they did. And an entirely new branch on the family tree was revealed to us.
In her blog, “Notes From a Dreamer,”
Bobbie Ann Pimm writes,
“I long to receive a three page,
heart-rending, soppy letter, filled with words carefully chosen and eternal.”
I add my voice to the growing
throng: let’s rediscover the art of letter writing. Make a vow to write a real,
handwritten letter. There is someone who would love to get a letter
from you.
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