Have you ever seen where a river meets the ocean? The water is choppy and moving in many different directions. This is exactly how I felt last week. I was visiting my parents, checking up on my dog (who is currently living w/ them), and visiting other relatives. I loved spending time with the family, however it was bitter sweet, I knew it would be the last long visit I would have with them for quite awhile. I soaked up all the love, laughter, and quality time I could and it was a week I will never forget.
I prepared for one last yard sale at my parents house! I found a treasure chest of letters in the closet. These letters had not seen the light of day in years. What I found were the letters my mother had received from her mother, sister, and boyfriend (yes, my father) while away at college. These letters were side splittingly funny, emotionally touching, and provided insight into what each of these individuals was like "back in the day."
What do we get from a letter other then the content? We get-handwriting, dates, times, smells, cross-outs, doodles, and so much more!
Today most people don't send real mail, instead they use: email, text, facebook, and twitter to correspond. Today's technology doesn't require us to have patience, everything is instant and fleeting. Emails get deleted, text and facebook doesn't get archived. What will our kids have to look back on, read, or discover? When was the last time you printed pictures off of your computer? Most of us just leave them on the hard drive. I lost 3,ooo photo's in seconds a few years ago. The guy at the Apple store told me "they are floating out in the universe never to be seen again."
So... I have decided I will start writing more letters. Who knows if the recipients will tuck them away in a closet for safe keeping, but I like the idea of letters, there is something more personal and thoughtful about them.
