Title : The Lost Art of Letter and Thank You Note Writing
link : The Lost Art of Letter and Thank You Note Writing
The Lost Art of Letter and Thank You Note Writing
Two thoughts from two month have reminded me of something from my younger days that was so common as to escape notice: receiving written letters, thank you notes, or invitations in the mail. Today, to receive any of these is cause for pause. Letters are e-mails, thank you notes are usually Dayspring e-mail cards, and Evite handles almost all invitations to parties or special happenings.
What brought this to mind was a reminder of the book written by recently deceased President George H.W. Bush. It is simply hundreds of pages of letters he wrote to his parents during the war, his wife to be, and all the world leaders or people he interacted with during his long political career. The fascinating part is the content: the writings are centered on his love and empathy for others, his deepening and sustaining friendships through personal communication, and his creative side. You may or may not have agreed with his politics, but this book is as far from political as one can travel. It is about a caring, intelligent, sensitive man who used words and letters to touch others.
The second thing that promoted this post were two thank you notes from dear friends. Betty and I had an opportunity to help them with a party that was important to them. What we did was both fun and allowed us to do something for them. Within days both husband and wife sent us handwritten thank you notes that were personal and meaningful. An e-mail or Hallmark card wouldn't have been the same.
My mom made it quite clear to me that as soon as I was able to hold a pen I was expected to send thank you notes after every Christmas and birthday. Invitations were to be hand-written by me. Any gift, for any reason, triggered a note. I have slipped over the last few years, though Betty and I still have a drawer full of thank you, sympathy, or thinking of you cards. I must admit, though, Internet choices see a lot of activity from me.
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| courtesy imgur.com |
Writing letters is no longer part of my normal experience, either writing or receiving. Part of the reason is quite simple: I have very few friends anymore that don't live here. I've lost contact with almost everyone else, so there is almost no one for me to write to.
Thinking back to a post of several years ago about the U.S. Postal Service, this lack of writing and mailing is a major reason that organization is fighting for its life. Only junk mail, magazines (another hurting segment), and an occasional bill find their way into my mailbox. Millions of first class pieces of mail aren't written anymore and bills arrive electronically, so the post office is in trouble.
No one needs to remind us that texting, Facebooking, or Tweeting are the preferred way to communicate by everyone under 40, and many over that age. Cursive writing, proper spelling and grammar are barely taught in school anymore. Long form writing is pretty much confined to blogs, and rough drafts of graduate thesis papers, and book writing. Of course, virtually all of that writing is done on a computer so spelling and grammar checkers can catch mistakes and the end result can be e-mailed to someone else as an attachment. Actually putting pen to paper doesn't happen.
I am not an old curmudgeon saying we should all go back to the old ways. There would be no Satisfying Retirement blog if I wrote everything out first on a yellow legal pad. I love (no, I need) my spell checker and the ability to write faster and (hopefully) better. But, there are times when I long for the days of handwritten thank you notes and the personal letter that took time and effort to craft.
No great message here, just a sense of loss when I realize letter writing and thank you notes are likely to disappear completely with our generation.
Did you send any thank you notes after the holidays? Did you receive any?
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