Long-Hand

Margaux at Tentenknits wrote a beautiful piece on Letter Writing on her blog today. In it, she describes the act of writing letters versus emails and the legacy they leave. I found it to be quite thought-provoking.

As I was reading, it dawned on me that had email been around in my Mother's and Grandmother's times, I would not have in my possession boxes upon boxes of wonderful old letters from them to each other, to me, to my sister, to my Dad, etc. Each letter is a treasure; a reminder of them, of the writer's personality, their quirks, their ideologies. Sometimes they provide unexpected comfort at a time when it is really needed. Other times, great insights are found, or important information from decades ago that proves relevant and helpful in the present.

I don't write nearly enough hand-written letters, either. I claim illegibility, though. My handwriting used to be quite nice, but years of typing and carpal tunnel have left me with such awful penmanship that sometimes I can't read my own notes.

Perhaps we should all take time out to write even a brief, well-crafted, carefully penned note to those we love, as Margaux has suggested. Let's leave future generations and those we leave behind a legacy like the ones left for us.

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Labels: musings

posted by Jeanne @ 1:09 AM