Emails are just not letters .....

I recently got a random card from a special friend & sister in law that simply said:

I saw this and thought of you ..... can there be no nicer words to read?

While visiting my folks last year, my (now late) Mom took a massive bag out of their hallway cupboard. It was absolutely full of ... letters home from us.

I love nothing better than finding pretty card & then sending them off telling them of the happenings of our lives away and in return, I would get home, open the door & find an overseas letter waiting on the mat for us.

The joy of seeing the familiar handwriting always lifted any day. The ritual was always to put on the kettle, make a welcome cup of tea then open the letter carefully as it often contained little cuttings or a pressed flower, an interesting stamp, a photo or something else that might drop out, then sit & savour their news.

Mom had the gift of the gab; her letters were always brim full of stories, news updates & being far away, I encouraged the girls to write back and they did ... from a young age.

Youngest daughter just managing her name as she started school to add a drawing to a card ....

or send a postcard they specially chose ...

or a newsy letter to the grandparents ....

or oldest sharing her first photographic exhibition at The Drum with her grandparents on the other side of the world ....

or doing a card together ....

And this is some of the many letters & cards sent home from around the world: letters written on various hotel notepapers telling of antics & trips - all shared & very much appreciated to be re-read again & again as we do too.

My writing is often at my little desk - tucked away in the corner of my bedroom - a very personal space to send & receive news. It is here that I safely keep the letters in ribbon tied bundles - a bit of history to be re-read another time in the future when that person is perhaps no longer with us & these letters will form a tie to that person; a time capsule of them to be enjoyed by others too.

In this digital age, consider how much joy is given & received when someone puts pen to paper, and sends a letter from home, a personal card or just a "saw this and thought of you" ....

Take care & send that note or letter ♥
Dee ~♥~