Six Reasons to Pick Up a Pen and Paper

I wrote a letter yesterday.

I found my favorite pen with a nice fine point

and a piece of paper. 

I spent an hour formulating my thoughts

and putting them on paper.

I put it in an envelope with a stamp.

I mailed it today.

I know it will take 2 or 3 days to be delivered, 

but I found myself wondering all day

if she read it yet.

I've become so accustomed to corresponding online

that it's hard to change gears.  While there's no question that emails are faster, are they better?

There are so many reasons to forego technology.  Here are six:

1.  "Sending a handwritten letter is the next best thing to showing up at someone's door.

Ink from your pen touches the paper, your fingers touch the paper, and you seal the envelope. Something tangible from your world travels through the real world until it reaches the recipient's mailbox. They touch the paper that you handled and they see your familiar handwriting, reflecting your unique style and personality. 

Pretty cool when you think about it!

2.  Receiving handwritten letters feels like a gift.

     Who doesn't like getting a package in the mail?  Receiving a 

     handwritten letter from someone special is even better!  

3.  Handwritten letters don't demand an immediate response.

   

     When an email or test message is sent,  the sender usually expects

     you to answer right away.  Letting it sit for even a day frustrates the

     sender and can even cause bad feelings.  Since handwritten letters

     take time to write and mail,  waiting for a response is expected.  

     There is plenty of time to digest what you read before writing back.

4.  Handwritten letters are more thought-full.

     When writing with a pen and paper,  you really need to plan what

     you want to say and organize your thoughts ahead of time.  There 

     is no "delete" button or "cut and paste" option.  To avoid rewriting

     a page,  you tend to slow down and put more thought into your 

     words and ideas.

5.  There is no spell-check.

      While this may seem like a drawback,  I'd like to show you a letter

      written by my father to my mother before they were married.

   I know my mom must have recognized the misspelled word, but most

   likely found it endearing (or funny) and didn't have the heart to let him

   know.

6.  Handwritten letters are usually saved.

I have a big bundle of letters that my father wrote to my mother in the early years of their relationship when he lived an hour or two away from her.  This one from 1951 was written 3 months before their wedding to his "sweatheart".  I can't help but notice how beautiful my father's handwriting was back then.  I wouldn't have recognized it! 

The cost of a first-class postage stamp in 1951 was 3 cents.  He paid

and extra 15 cents for special delivery.  How much faster was that?

Notice, too, that the letter lacks a zip code.  Zip codes were not

introduced until 1963 and not mandatory for another 4 years after that.

Vance and I have bundles of letters that we wrote to each other in the 

years before our wedding in the early 1980s.  We would either mail

them to each other or leave them on each other's desks at work. Someday, our children will read them and learn more about us, 

just as I did of my parents.  These discolored pages were in the hands

of my mom and dad and proved their love for each other.

How many couples today will leave the same gift to their children?