Write a Letter

            I have written a few letters to friends and family lately. This doesn't seem like it should be a big feat. But I have been living in the land of computers for a very long time now. I got my first e-mail address about 20 years ago, and since then have not really actually put pen to paper and written in the old-school ways.

I remember being in college the first time, Fall Semester of 1996, at Montana State University – Billings, sitting in the office of The Retort, which is the student newspaper. I would stay there all night sometimes, surfing the Internet, e-mailing high school friends whose email addresses I knew, and hanging out on chat rooms that I could find. I was fascinated by how easy it now was to communicate with people in distant lands like Nebraska. Back then the chat room messages weren't in real time. You actually had to refresh every few seconds to see if someone else had commented (“A/S/L everybody!”). I digress.

Anyway, I had stopped actually penning letters to my one pen pal Leah, who I had met in Spearfish, South Dakota when she and two of her friends were attending the same Christian music festival as my brother, my cousin, and I were. We were all staying at the KOA “kampground” and we met up at the onsite laundromat. Great story, actually. I'll have to tell you about it someday. Maybe.

I am a sentimental type who likes to try the old ways of doing things, and lately I've realized that for the most part, I like them better. Shaving, photographing, writing, among others. All very good blog topics. Sometime.

It’s a nostalgic and very “real” feeling, putting actual pen to actual paper. Also, I would imagine when someone opens the letter that you've actually taken the time to write him or her, they feel special. They know that you've thought about them specifically. This is much more personal and intimate than writing on their Facebook timeline, the motivation for which may be as inorganic as just having seen a post by them. You weren't thinking of them, you didn't go out of your way, you may not even have remembered that they existed, for all they know, until you came across the photo of their breakfast or cat or kid.

     So pick up a piece of paper and pick up a pen or pencil or crayon for that matter. Put the two together for five minutes and let someone know that you are thinking of them.
     Write to your friend from high school whose posts you haven't seen for awhile on your news feed.
     Write to your nephew or niece, who is being inundated with digital communication in this new age.
     Write to your mother, who will feel overwhelmingly wistful and grateful.

I picked these notecards up from Target for about $15.
Atop is one of my Pilot Metropolitan fountain pens, which also cost about $15 online.
You don't have to get fancy though; a piece of notebook paper will do!

     And for God’s sake, folks, write to your father this week. Send his letter so that it will get to him in Saturday’s mailbox at the latest. You will miss this opportunity when it’s gone. Trust me.