For Love of a Letter

During my recent visit to my parent's house, my mom and I discovered a treasure trove of letters and greeting cards that my sister had left at home in her bedroom closet. Dawn kept everything, from invitations to parties of people she didn't even like, to notes from boys who liked me, trying to butter up the younger sister. We decided to search for letters from my Pop Pop to Dawn, mostly because my mom was missing him and there was something so magical about his letters that we figured finding and reading one would be the next best thing to having him here with us again. Unfortunately, we never found any of Pop Pop's letters (they're probably the only ones Dawn took with her to Colorado when she moved), but we found lots of other goodies, including:

• Correspondence from LOTS of boys we couldn't remember her ever mentioning (and I'm not sure she would remember them either)
• Letters from relatives (who, interestingly, never wrote to me)
• Letters from me to Dawn

Letters are like little time capsules. Rereading them transports us back to an earlier time and place, capturing where we were in our lives at that moment. Letters remind us of why we fell in love, or out of love. They reconnect us with long lost friends. They bind us to our parents. And they envelop us in the words of loved ones who have passed on.

As a Facebook devotee and a blogger, I can obviously see the benefits of technology when it comes to communicating in the 21st century. The immediacy, the ease, the frequency, the ability to connect with literally hundreds of friends at one time is something letters can never compete with. However, the honesty, the depth, the emotion, and the staying power of a letter is something that is lost in the world of Facebook status updates, texts, tweets, email, and even blog posts.

My life would be considerably less rich without the correspondence between my Pop Pop and me during my years at college. I can't imagine having fallen so completely in love with my husband without the intelligent, creative, and witty notes he would leave on my desk when we worked together, and which later sustained me during a year away at grad school. Even rereading the letters I wrote to my sister during college brought back a flood of memories and emotions. It saddens me to think that this generation and those to come will miss out on the gifts of those cherished personal letters.

I've decided to take up a personal crusade to save the old-fashioned, personal letter. In fact, I was all set to establish a National Letter Writing Day, but when I Googled it to make sure my idea was as original as I anticipated, it turns out I've been beaten to the punch. It may not be well-known or participated in, but according to the Clements Library Chronicles (the be all and end all of official sources), National Letter Writing Day is December 7. Who knew?

Do me a favor. Don't wait till December 7 to send a loved one or friend a personal letter. One that's more than 140 characters or five lines long. And put it in the mail. With an actual stamp. Be honest, is there anything nicer than receiving a letter in the mail? Abby got one this past week from our summer babysitter who is back at college, and her delight was nearly equal to the joy of Christmas morning. Imagine, only 44 cents and a few moments of your time, and you'll make someone's day. Even better, your letter just might be one they savor for years to come.