This weekend I was going through cards to find one for my daughter to give to a friend. I sorted through cards not yet sent, pretty stationary, witty stationary, postcards with clever sayings on front, all waiting to be penned with thoughts and comments. Sadly I rarely send cards just for the heck of it anymore. Getting letters used to be quite common 20 years ago. With the advent of email/social media this has become a thing of the past. I do enjoy that we can now instantly send a message near and far to update our family and friends. It is wonderful to watch my niece's and nephew's children grow up before my eyes, coordinate schedules easier and quicker, and give cheer and boosts for the day in the blink of any eye. However, there is something a bit missing from this form of communication.
In the pile of blank cards and stationary are some I've kept that were sent to my family. I found the cherished letters from my late mother-in-law to my daughter. The love and affection leaps off the pages and makes my smile bigger than the media storage capacity on my iphone. The cards from my parents for various occasions, signed with my mother's perfect Palmer Method handwriting and always including the word "lovingly". Then there are the postcards my husband sent me when he was away for training in New York. We were a fairly new relationship and I came to adore the pictures of his hotel on Central park with the "you can smell the horse sh*t from my room" scrawled in his almost illegible handwriting on the back.
While I keep many emails and can scroll through social media to re-read conversations and messages, there is something about sitting on my bed, a lazy Saturday afternoon, cup of tea at my side, looking at the glorious cards and letters. It feels more intimate, more personal. To know someone took the time to pick out a card or stationary, put pen to paper, post it through the mail....it makes one feel a bit special, a bit loved. These tangible items bring a feeling of connection...I know the sender physically touched these things. They were only thinking of me when they wrote these messages and not multi-tasking, not checking off a task on a to do list.
I think I'll find some pretty stationary and cards. I'll begin sending out letters to my friends and relatives. Hopefully they'll open the envelope and my love and affection will pour out like a mountain stream after a spring thaw.
