Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Old Fashioned Letter

I don't know about you, but mail has always excited me. The first thing I do when I get home is rush to the mailbox. I am usually disappointed and just find bills and junk mail, but when I get a card or letter or even magazine I get super excited.

Don't get me wrong, I love how fast and convenient it is to send a quick email or text, but there is just something about a handwritten note that makes me feel special. I think it is the time and thought that you know is put into it that makes it different from the other options.

I feel old fashioned, but I love sending birthday cards to people on their special day. I use holidays as an excuse to shop the card aisle and use up the extra postage I have on hand. I have to admit that I am a slacker when it comes to the handwritten note though. Obviously I have written my fair share of thank you notes, but I can't remember the last time I wrote a just because note.

It's sad to me to think that when we get older, our children won't be able to go through a box of letters to find out about our juicy life details. All of our correspondences will be protected with a password which we will more than likely take to our grave. Maybe we think that's a good thing right now, but 50+ years down the road our past might not be so worth hiding.

When you think about it, all we have left of our ancestors are the pictures and documents that they have left behind. Oh sure, we have the stories that have been passed down from family member to family member, but we have all played the telephone game and know how that ends up. I believe that we all want to be remembered and for the most part none of us are going to make a big enough contribution to society to be documented in the history books. So my question is, how will our future ancestors remember us?

16 comments :

  1. I love sending and receiving letters, my friends and I do it sometimes. We don't always mail them, although this is when receiving them is the best; but sometimes pass them to each other at school and read them later, alone. Just letters about random things, or telling the other friend how much we appreciate them; but it's wonderful.
    I don't want some of my secrets exposed now, but I definitely want them left behind to be discovered somewhere down the line, I want someone to know my story, to understand it. From my point of view. It's part of the reason why I keep a diary, part of the reason why I have a blog. I want to leave something. (:

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  2. See I'm really bad about writing letters/cards and then always forgetting to send them lol. I always enjoy getting yours, though :)

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  3. Oh I LOVE getting mail! I used to write my grandparents letters all the time when I was little. And they saved them. E-mails just aren't as personal, ya know?!

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  4. My husband saves letters and emails. Our posterity will get a good look at everything. there is a way to organize electronic mail to make it accessable for family-history purposes. Your point is valid, and we have to make an effort to make our correspondance available after our death. It WILL be interesting to someone someday.
    (But it IS great to get stuff in the mail)

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  5. I have boxes full of letters, some of them 15 years old!

    I still write back and forth with two best friends.

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  6. I'm going to amass a ton of money which I will leave my descendants. Whether or not they actually get their money will be contingent on them getting a passing grade on a quiz about my life.

    Oh, they'll remember me.

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  7. Stopping by from SITS. I love, love, love mail. I get upset with my hubby if he checks the mail with out me!

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  8. I totally agree. I mentioned this to my wife once and the following week I received a letter a day from her. Nothing overly mushy or deep. Just cool handmade letters and cards that made me laugh and reminded me of the greatness of physical mail from loved ones. It was really awesome and this post totally reminded me that I was going to scan some of them and post about it. awesome :)

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  9. Pen pals. I remember having a pen pal in grade school( we were asssigned them) and I looked forward to receiving mail from her. It was like getting a little present. I still have her letters. I remember begging my Mom for fancy stationery and colored ink pens.

    Thanks for taking me back.

    Peace - Rene

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  10. I love mails, especially cards and letters. I have a box full of them that I have kept for years!

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  11. I have a pen pal that I will one day blog about and we love it. We could easily email or call each other but hand-written letters are so fantastic and addictive. :) You ask a really great question and honestly that is partly why I have a blog so that one day my kids can pore through it and read about my zany life and perspective!

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  12. some of my favorite possessions are the letters and cards my husband has written me over the years. and everyone in my family is required to hand write thank you letters:)

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  13. ... I'm going to go write a letter, and develop some pictures.
    I want to be remembered.

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  14. I never thought about the "after we're gone" part! I have notes from grade school, letters, etc. saved, and I still write full letters inside people's bday and anniversary cards. But, you're soooooooo right! With passwords and texting and such, our history will be wiped out! It's a conspiracy, I tell you :)

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  15. I really want to write down my friends birthdays and send them cards. Ugh, I so rely on Facebook to let me know when birthdays are. That's really sad, now that I'm thinking about it.

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  16. So true! I never thought about this! We live in a crazy world all locked up in passwords and codes.

    I often long for simple days of handwritten letters and photo albums.

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