Letters

I just received a letter, in the mail....you know a handwritten form of correspondence...tucked into an envelope with my address on the front and a stamp in the upper right hand corner....

**************

I love the fact that I can keep in touch with my friends and family via email...however it was so nice to get a personal letter mixed in with all the bills and junk mail!  I used to write letters all the time as a teenager.  My best friend lived in Florida and I in Michigan and boy did we keep the United States Post Office going!  We would write LOOOOONGGGG letters, numbering the pages so that if we accidentally got one out of order we could just put them in number order and be right back to where we left off...I remember I would use this stationary pad with a scene in the background faded just so slightly so you could still see it, yet it would not compete with the ink of your pen.  Stamps were so cheap...I think I recall putting 13 cents on top of the envelope in the mail box and the postman would put the stamp on for me....Often I would get a letter from Tonya and take it with me into the woods and sit with my back against a tree in the shade and delight in every word.  I think that with all the benefits of technology we have lost a lot of simple happiness and joy.  While I love getting emails from loved ones, they can never replace a hand written letter.  Seeing your name in thier handwriting, looking at the choice of stamp, the stationary and then stealing away for a few moments to read what they took time to tell you is priceless....often I can put off reading an email till later...but if I get a letter, well that is another matter.  If I have enough patience I will make a cup of tea and snuggle up somewhere and open the letter, read it, and then read it again.  I think we need to practice this old custom more often.  Take some time out of our busy lives and sit down, take a pen and a piece of paper and start out with...Dear.......and then begin to tell them all kinds of good news..and then imagine their faces when they go to thier mailbox and see thier name on a envelope in your handwrittng....