I love to write old fashioned handwritten letters and send out cards via snail mail. And I love receiving them too. But honestly, I hate talking on the phone, so email and text seems to be on my "necessity" list. The other day I was handwriting a letter to my cousin in Texas. And unfortunately my brain had been dismissed for a short time and in my "handwritten old fashioned letter", I was writing short form "text" words. Oh my, I had to laugh when I finally welcomed my brain back. Now keep in mind, I'm still learning a lot of "text" language from my kids (while they laugh at my back woods old fashioned brain) . But here's a few words/abbreviations that I used. "Lmk when u r out of the hsptl, Il cal u sune aftr."
My cousin is older than me, so I'm sure if she would have received this, I would have received a phone call of confusion. Most of us can probably understand my above text language, but it's kind of like reading a license plate while sitting at a stop light. Most are pretty easy and quickly jump out at you, but others...goodness, some are really hard. It will bother me relentlessly until I figure those out, so I usually write them down, go home and figure them out or initiate my kids help. I guess it's a fun game to play while sitting at one of Harrisonburg's long and unending stupid stoplights. I live out in the country, we don't have stop lights. So when I go to Harrisonburg or other cities around here, I have to find something to entertain myself while waiting. Okay, so I'm getting off the subject.
Today's technology is so advance and fun, that sometimes they crossover with each other. And confusion may arise. I enjoy email, text and blogging. But I try not to forget the old fashioned joy of handwriting a letter. The first time I ever wrote my cousin in Texas, she replied via email that she hasn't received a handwritten letter in a very long time. I encourage the "art" of handwritten letters and I hope it's something everyone will try again.
One of many wonderful memories I have is, when I was growing up, one of my Aunt's moved to different states and she used to write me letters all the time. I treasured those letters so much. And I have one from my old Sunday School teacher that she wrote me. I was maybe 9 or 10 when she wrote it.
I challenge you to pick one person per month and just write a letter to them. Not on your computer or typewriter. Simply with a pen and paper. The recipient will be both surprised and delighted.
I John 1:4
2 comments:
You're right about hand-written letters being special and rare these days. It is also becoming more expensive! Last year we seriously pruned our snail-mail New Year's (or Christmas, if I get it done in time) letter recipients list, and e-mailed it to the rest of them.
I am not into the text-messaging thing. I didn't know anything about it until you wrote some on your blog. That would be a big switch for me. I very much dislike improper spelling, pronunciation, or usage of words. I say all that and am that way, but I butcher some words every time I try to say them, and I am not a spelling whiz.
I'm glad you still use snail mail and can bring joy to the heart of your cousin in Texas.
Sally, we trimmed our Christmas list back too. I'm a strickler for proper spelling,etc. But text needs to be short and sweet. LOL. I write letters to alot of my cousins all over the U.S. It's time consuming, but I love it.
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