“YOU have mail, Sam!,” my cousin Jenny gleefully told her two-year-old daughter.
A look of surprise and excitement came upon my niece’s face. “Mail?,” Sam grinned. “For me?”
She then excitedly opened the letter together with her Mom. She was thrilled because her concept of getting a letter must have been limited to what she saw on “Blue’s Clues” (”We just got a letter, we just got a letter, we just got a letter, I wonder who it’s from!”). Having her own letter to open and read was a big moment for her!
It made me think back to the last time I received snail mail. And I don’t mean bank statements or even holiday cards with just the signature of friends affixed. I’m talking real snail mail — letters with stories and anecdotes written by hand. It has been a long time since I’ve received and written a letter.
E-mail is such a wonderful way to get in touch so easily. But while you can personalize it with fonts and colors, nothing beats the scribble of a loved one’s penmanship in blue ink on white paper. A piece of the sender is with you. Sometimes they still even carry the scent of the sender. It’s quite an intimate way of sharing a part of yourself with another.
I remember having a ton of penpals when I was a tween. I enjoyed corresponding with boys and girls my age around the world. There was no e-mail then and so correspondence was always through the post office. I loved seeing the different penmanships of my friends — some were huge and loopy, others small and hard to read, others grand and feminine. I loved guessing each penpal’s personalities through their writing. Sometimes we’d send each other coins, stickers and stationery along with our letters — what quaint gifts! And it was always a joy to come home after school and see a bunch of letters from all over the world in the mail. I’d receive ten to fifteen letters a week at most, prompting our mailman to ask, “Is there a celebrity living in this house?”
Gradually my correspondence with my penpals faded. I keep in touch with several of them through e-mail now though. While I miss the thrill of seeing their letters in the mailbox, I am happy that we get to interact more often now through the Internet. (Thank you Facebook!)
But still, I hope the art of letter writing hasn’t died. I am certain there are still those who would prefer this more personal brand of communication but have given in to the swiftness of the Internet and text messaging. I’m definitely one of those people. It sure would feel good to receive a long sincere letter. I’d definitely react the same way my two-year-old niece did.
Maybe it’s something we should revive, starting with our loved ones across the miles. Who knows? Maybe they’ll write you back.
11 Feedbacks on "Where did letter writing go?"
April
I agree with the thrill your niece felt when she received her letter. I, too, got the same excitement whenever I received envelopes when I was in high school. I had this penpal once. She’s a Filipino but living in California. I would eagerly wait for her letters to read more stories about her life in the US. I would ask her to send me little stuffs like flowers so that I would know how it was like being in the US. Looking back, it was a crazy idea. Yet, the feeling of being naive ang eager and giggly - they’re just irreplaceable and being missed. I still get the same excitement whenever I see that I have a new message in my inbox. But the act of opening an actual envelope is still different.
Shielita Hope
I agree with you.
Gone are the days where we would be writing our friends from all over the world and can’t wait till you get the reply back.
My very good friend and I started writing each other back when we were both in the Phils (she was in Bicol, I live in Makati). Now she is based in New York, and I am here in Virginia. 2008 marks our 30th year.
We would still write each other letters (although not as long as we used to back when we were younger). Also, she just recently became tech savvy, so every once in a while, we would email each other. Her being a mother too plus she working as a nurse does not give her much time to write, well that’s her excuse.. haha.
I still have all her letters to me (in a shoebox back in the Phils) it is like our diary coz we have in those letters all the stories we have shared with each other.
It was fun and I agree with you… I miss those times too.
Ricardo Caluen
Hi. I’ve always wanted to write about the lost art of letter-writing. You beat me to it. But thank you and congratulations.
I wholly agree with you. I get nostalgic of the good ol’ days (I was a child of the 1960s, too) when I looked forward to receiving something in the mail. I gave my school address since I knew I would readily find my letter in the La Salle Brother’s office (I was “malakas” with them) and pick it up.
Other than culture exchange, each mail brought in an addition to my stamp collection (although I had only one foreign pen pal, a Japanese). It was also a good exercise in writing in your best English (although I thought I was condescending enough by using only the simplest English when writing to my Japanese correspondent).
Cheers,
Ricky
Gay
You made me miss my penpals. I had lots of penpals when I was in high school, too. Tues and Thur are days that the postman delivers mail to our place. In the summer months, when I am at home, I would listen to the sound of his motorcycle (I was familiar with the sound already!), listening if it would slow down near our gate.
I would prefer writing by snail mail, too. There’s some magic in receiving them that email can’t bring.
lette
i totally agree! I love letter writing, even postcard writing for a quick note to say hello.
It’s personal and you really know the sender took time to write his thoughts (hard to delete once you’ve written it down
)
Nothing says I’m taking the time and thinking of you like writing a note and sending it via snail mail
Josie
I was in high school in the late 1950’s when pen pal writing was a popular hobby. I can still remember how excited I was in receiving a letter from my pen pal. However, now in my 60’s and far away from home, I welcome and enjoy e-mailing. This way I am able to connect with relatives and friends from many far away places more often and faster.
angelo
i really miss letter writing. i now treasure the last letter exchange i had with a friend , i still keep them to this day. nowaday’s filipino youth have not experience the joy of letter writing. they resort to texting even in courtship. not undermining texting but all they got is an unintelligently word abbreviation. filipino youth are now getting used to wrong spelling. it’s a sad flight that with modern technology we have seen the demise of the romantic letter writing.
cel
nothing beats the ‘personality’ in hand-written and snail-mailed letters.. hope we get them back.
Randell Aranza
personalizing fonts and flooding of smileys in e-mails can’t beat the emotions brought by snail mails.
it was year 2006 when i last sent a snail mail to my parents abroad. but as i faced the techie world, i discovered convenience through email.
nevertheless, as long as the message was sent and received, snail or “e”, the issue still remains on the words.
MJSLTan
I miss those long hand-written letters. You know the person took the trouble to sit and write you those lovely letters. Luckily for me, I’ve received a few from my loved ones before they passed away.
Just for this reason, I treasure every single hand-written letter I receive. Sadly, it’s been ages since I’ve received one.
The problem is also what I call the “instant generation”. Nobody wants to make an effort to relive the older values and experience the more profound joys of those wonderful old-fashioned ways.
Shame.
maffrey
I was a snail mail addict, and up to now, I still am.:-)
I never ever forget to send my hubby (who is working in UK) a letter or a card with my handwritten message on it. He loves it very much and he appreciates my effort in doing so. I feel the same when he sends me card thru snail mail.
E-mails cannot beat the joy of opening envelopes and reading a letter with your loved ones’ handwritten message on it.
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