Snail Mail

Can you remember the last genuine hand-written letter you received? Or the last real Christmas card, in an envelope? Or the last birthday card not attached to a present as identification? Kinda hard to do, isn't it.

What about the last letter you actually WROTE, not typed, and then put into an envelope, licked and shut, added a stamp and entrusted to the post office? Nope, can't remember that one. Do I even have an address book anymore, besides the electronic one that tells me people live in my computer and not on a street somewhere?

I've just checked my postbox here at the office, and that's what's set me off on this train of thought. I miss receiving letters - the kind you can put in a shoebox tied up with string and relive years later. The ones that are filled with all those irritating little "sprinkles" (music notes, snowmen, whatever) that fall out when you open the envelope and get stuck in the carpet. The ones that include pictures of folk you haven't seen in a while, or a lipstick kiss on the envelope (sent those, but never received one! :) ), or a whiff of someone's fragrance. The ones with a pressed flower or a piece of the local scenery included. The ones whose envelopes have protected them from travels varied and lengthy, and sometimes show it.

All I get nowadays are my magazine subscriptions, requests for information / applications(hand-written perhaps, but they're not for ME, just for this office), and bills.

I wonder how many others out there miss the personal touch. The one that takes time, effort, a few cramps in hand muscles that have forgotten how to hold a pen, and more planning/expense to deliver than simply hitting the "Send" button. The one that's more than a few hastily-typed (and filled with typo's) words, sent without re-reading and not more than a line long.

Granted, I'm guilty of that. It's a quick way to communicate world-wide, and my typing is both much faster and much neater than my handwriting. Any letters I've written lately have been typed and simply signed. I haven't gone looking for a pad of writing paper (or the sheet with lines that goes behind each page) in many years.

But perhaps it's time to surprise a few people. To actually sit down and write, and think before I pen the words. To remember what it's like not to be able to use the "Del' key when I've made a mistake, and to find where I've hidden the good-quality envelopes.

::update::
Oops - completely forgot to mention that I DO get hand-written notes and packages of cool goodies from my mom regularly! I guess this post has more to do with the friends I only hear from electronically, than the family overseas who makes sure there's things in the post - and for which I am extremely grateful! I love getting those large padded envelopes with surprise stuff in, and believe me it makes everyone else here jealous.