Today I actually had mail in my mail box. I don't look in the mail box every day because there isn't anything in it most of the time. I know, I know, most people get junk mail and bills and all sorts of negative correspondence. Some people need to push a wheelbarrow out to their mail box to carry it all back to their house. Not me. My little mail box is my friendly quiet keeper of peace and unobtrusive letters and packages delivered by the friendly quiet mail person. My bills are not paid through snail mail, therefore I do not receive statements in the mail box.
Up until today my mother was the only person writing me letters and she was the only person I sent letters to. Mail is an important part of her life as she has never ever been interested in computers. My brother delivered a computer to her home many years ago and set it up and showed her how to use it and she tried for a day or two but she did not want it in the first place and got so frustrated because she had never even typed so my brother removed the object of intense dislike and she promptly forgot about ever having the computer.
Today I received a letter from one of my mother's sisters. By the sound of the letter, my aunt is just as baffled as I am regarding how many years it has been since she and I have corresponded. I remember writing her a few times when I was a teenager and it is possible that I wrote her a few times up until my thirties. Heaven only knows when I last wrote her but I recognized her writing on the envelope and smiled when I saw her name so my correspondence with her must have always been pleasant.
In this nice easy-going letter, my aunt told me how she and her husband are doing, that they are in good health, and asked if I would like to write to her. She made a nice gesture and made sure to say that if I did not want to write to her it was okay. No pressure. I like that. She does not know much about most of my recent life, but it would be nice to have a sort of pen pal no pressure person at this time in my life. This particular aunt always seemed much cooler to me than the other aunts, maybe that is why I always liked her. Anyway, I am going to go write a letter!!!!
9 comments:
Once upon a time, in a place far far away I also wrote most of my correspondence. And I had pen pals around the world, from Germany to the Ivory Coast. We would match the letters sent page by page. If somebody sent me 3 pages of writing, I'd reply the same page number, even more. My record was 16 pages of A4 papers, to somebody I adored.
And then the Internet happened...
My friends / pen pals drifted away. Instant messages is so.... instant. There is no suspense anymore.
It took a month for a friend in the United States to reply by snail mail. But to me, it is worth waiting.
*sniff*
I think it is great, I am the supposedly cool aunt in our family. Letter writing is a forgotten art. I am all for it. Have a great day my friend. Take care.
wow, a letter, what a novel idea... haven't done one of those in ages.... mmm, i never get any either, come to think of it... except those darn bills, heee heee heee
With a pen??? and paper??? Ewwww! LOL!
I used to love to write letters. I would shop the stationery store for pretty paper and envelopes, make sure I had stamps, etc. The whole nine yards. I stopped doing that before the internet age hit so I can't blame my computer for that. But with the computer, I have several people I communicate with fairly regularly so as to stay "in touch" and for me, it's a lot easier to do it via e-mail. For openers, when I try to write, my hand cramps up almost immediately due to an injury about 10 years ago, plus the granddaughter has a fixation with envelopes as well as any kind of blank paper so we have to keep finding new hiding places for those things and at times, I wind up hiding it from myself.
One of my favorite aunts was given a web machine for Christmas several years back and though she hated to type, and the machine frustrated her a good bit at times, she managed and I loved when she would try to send me a letter using that mode -made them very special because I knew how hard she had to try to type. When she passed away, her Pastor even commented in his sermon about her tenacity to keep trying to get comfortable with that machine and figure out how to operate it. I do miss the personal touch with a handwritten note but I LOVE e-mail as it keeps that communication avenue open for me since handwriting stuff is ultra difficult for me these days. And boy do I ever miss those notes from my aunt!
Oh, this is a good post. Thank you. I just want to curl up in my chair right now with a pad of paper and a real live pen and write someone. One of my most treasured possessions is a letter my mom wrote to my grandparents when she was young. I lost her when I was five and don't remember her, so I feel like I can see her clearly through this simple piece of paper and her beautifully cursived lettering.
Thanks for this.
SLC
I could really relate. I only get letters from my mother. I also had a similar computer experience with her. I get frustrated that she quit learning at about 50 years old, and dug in her heels for the old ways.
But I can't change her. I send her cards because, like your said, getting "the mail" is the highlight of her day.
I love snail mail, but mine may be the last generation to which it means so much!
that's nice.... snail mail is good....
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