Letters from Home

Gramma Goldie

In this age of texting, social media and email, the idea of sending a message by what we now call “snail mail” probably does not thrill you, especially if the message has to be delivered quickly. It seems our busy lives don’t have time for it any longer but are we missing out by not writing letters? That is very possible. Writing has been around awhile...a really long while. for about five thousand years; so for it to become obsolete would be a great shame. On a societal level, letters preserve history as well as contributing to the protection and conservation of literacy and language.  Letters have been around since early antiquity but they are becoming rather scarce and but hopefully they will not go completely out of style.  Even though we can Skype, and text, and email with ease; people still like to receive letters. Try searching "old letters" on the internet; there are hundreds if not thousands of websites devoted to old letters of all sorts, both historical and personal accounts. 

While it may be only a certain generation where this was the most common form of communication; There may still be a few people who still have a box of old letters beneath their bed or tucked away in a closet who were touched enough to save them. Perhaps taking them out and re-reading them, touching the paper brought them closer to the person or maybe as proof that the person had been a part of our lives or if they were far from home and this was the only way to feel connected.  It’s the memories, its knowing that someone thought enough to write it and to send it. Letters remind us that someone is thinking enough to sit down and take the time to put their thoughts on paper for you.

That is what is so special about a letter. The sense of permanency and tangibility in a handwritten letter, something to hold on to; something you can go back and re-read whenever one wishes; somewhat of a promise that your words will be preserved for posterity; sometimes for hundreds of years. As it comes to personal letters, they can bring a sense of closeness that an email cannot and can possibly strengthen relationships, both personal and professional. The contents of the letter may not be as important as to let someone know you are thinking of them and keeping them in their memory, above the instantaneousness of texting or emails. Letters have a reality about them that texting or emails can never duplicate, just like photographs of loved ones or special occasions. If you have ever written a letter, you know that it gives both the writer a sense of self-expression, you have created something. If you have never written anyone a letter, I invite you to try it.

Below is a letter written to my mother from my grandmother, Golden Cummins, written in 1961 who passed away when I was 15. We lived in Texas at the time and she usually wrote to check with us to see how we were doing.

For more information on letters, there are plenty of sites online. Information for this post was found at Wikipedia.