You've Got Mail

This little ditty is dedicated to Valerie. A friend and sister who I know isn't feeling well and has a long road ahead of her. She has been on my mind a great deal, and all the gifts her friendship gives me. One gift in particular has been swirling around my mind the past few days... the gift of a letter. Not an email. Not a text. A really true, honest to goodness, handwritten, handcrafted letter... on paper. I'll never forget the first one I got from her. I remember being taken by surprise. "Why is she giving me this letter? She could email me. Plus, I see her almost every day in field service?" But at the same time, the giddy little girl voice in my head was saying, "Oh goodie, I have mail!". She reminded me of the joy of letter writing.

In this fast paced, techno mad world, the art of a hand-crafted letter is getting lost. Now, it might seem a little bizarre, that I am writing this in an online blog. I'm a hypocrite, I'll admit it. I haven't written a letter in quite a while. But as I was unpacking I came across my box of special letters. It brought back a flood of memories and a smile to my face. What email or text could ever do that? So, I have begun a crusade to write letters to people I care about. But I'm making a discovery. So lost is this art becoming, that when I Googled 'letter writing' (I know, another act of irony) that mostly what came up are are little social groups dedicated to keeping the art alive. (You know something is getting lost when artsy-fartsy coffee house people start support groups for it.) And try shopping for the paper to write on! All I have found are soulless, tacky 8 1/2 x 11 printer sheets with balloons or birthday cake. Oh, I did find one set, but it only came with 40 sheets, small potatoes in letter-writing world, for $20! That's 50 cents per sheet! (I know, I used my calculator... and my toes).

The way I see it (well you knew this was coming) writing a letter to someone is giving a little tiny bit of yourself. In this time when we feel so disconnected that we constantly try to be connected (electronically), imagine holding a letter in your hands. To be holding and object your loved one held. To read from writing from their own hand. Writing that sometimes is as much a part of their personality as their voice or their smile. The effort itself is an act of love. No 'delete' button. No 'spell-check'. You have to really think to write. And yet, your friend could be thousands of miles away and here's this little part of them in your hands. And if a letter is a gift, then a letter from Val is a treasure. She not only hunts down stationary (her eyes positively glaze over in a stationary store) but she finishes it with a wax seal... an art in itself, full of symbolism and history.

So will you join me? I'm not against emails and texts. It has made the world smaller, in a good way. And for some, who are very far away, it is the only way to stay connected. But the next time you are missing someone you care about, why not write to them? Put the phone away, turn off the laptop and slooowww down. Put pen to paper and give them a gift. Who knows? Maybe you'll get mail too!