I was thinking as I wrote -- this will probably be one of the last few letters I write in my lifetime. The only reason I am putting pen to paper is because Miss Betty isn't online -- but most other people I corrrespond with are so me writing her a letter will probably become one of those memories that I touch on in old age.
"Let's see," I will say to my great-grandchildren, scratching my head in a vacant old-person way. "I think it was back in 2010 that I last wrote a letter to someone."
"Letter writing? What's that grandma?"
Then I'll explain about the old days when stores sold things called stationery and pens and you used a pen to write. Why it'll sound like chiseling on a stone to them by then.
9 comments:
IT'S A SHAME NO ONE DOES IT ANYMORE, WRITING A LETTER MAKES YOU THINK MORE THAN JUST AN EMAIL AND ALSO A LETTER SEEMS MORE PERMANENT, YOU HAVE IT IN YOUR HAND, KEEP IT AND LOOK BACK AT IT ANYTIME. I USED TO WRITE A LETTER A WEEK TO MY WIFE WHEN I WORKED AWAY. THE OTHER WEEK I WROTE HER A LETTER AND SENT IT TO HER WORK, JUST FOR OLD TIMES SAKE.
Was your handwriting OK, Anonymous? I found when I was trying to write this letter that my handwriting is terrible and illegible. I'm out of practice.
I feel quite obsolete: I still write letters on an almost weekly basis and develop films...
My daughter and a high-school pal made a habit of sending real, stamped letters to each other during college. Eli was at Stanford, and certainly online, but he's endearingly eccentric. Not sure if they still do that...
MY HAND WRITING HAS ALWAYS BEEN APPALLING! THATS PART FOR THE FUN, TO DE-CODE THE MESSAGE!
You know, for some reason, I've always had almost pathologically-legible handwriting!
Maybe because I never learned to type, I feel my printed/cursive words must needs be pristinely precise. Or maybe it's my art training, having always favored the anal pointillist/photo-real style...who knows?
A thought-provoking post, but I do have to say that I think letter writing has its place as an art that is more genuine and delivers a certain quality. Take this into consideration: The Things Unsaid Project (www.thingsunsaidproject.wordpress.com). A co-worker directed it to me a few weeks back and, while it's not necessarily a novel idea (there are other sites with similar missions), the creators insist on handwritten letters. I think looking at someone's actually handwriting, their color pen, etc brings an artistic quality that Times New Roman 12 just can't do.
I truly, truly hope letter writing never, ever dies.
--Tina
Virginia, do you really develop your own films still? I'm surpirsed you can still get the supplies.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...
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