I'm sitting in the salon, underneath a dryer waiting for my roots to change color when another stylist walks a tiny shriveled woman into the room and sits her down across from me.
I smile at her tan orthopedic shoes and shaky limbs, watching as she pulls something seemingly precious from inside her overstuffed purse. She doesn't notice me, so I watch as she unfolds a small stack of stationary, scrawled with the handwriting of someone she must love.
As she sits in silence for many moments, she turns the pages over in her hand, reading the news someone took the time to send her, and a slight smile crosses her lips.
This letter, I think, has made her day. Someone out there loves her.
And I wonder back to the last time I sent a letter, written out by hand... and I can't remember it's been so long.
Letter writing is like a lost art, one that was an important part of my adolescence. Growing up, I had pen pals all over the country, and we'd fill each other's mailboxes with notes and cards and trinkets that told the story of who we were.
Frozen in time.
Lately I've been pondering my love/hate relationship with technology. I love it because I don't have to write my books longhand. I hate it because it's a constant distraction, carried around in my pocket, vying for my attention... and all too often, it wins.
There's something wonderful about the simplicity of non-rechargable, not battery operated items. Things without a cord or a USB port. Books, especially...you can't smell the pages of an E-Reader. You get less of a person in an email than you do in a handwritten note or card.
Don't you think?
The handwritten word--has never lost its appeal to me. So I'm adding "send at least one letter or card to someone I love each week..." to my Summer Inspiration List.
I started last night. Writing out words of encouragement for a friend...
I purposely wanted it to be different. I wanted her to find something new every time she picked it up and read--like a word find, kind of.
I included some of my favorite quotes, scriptures and wrote some of my own words...and wound them all together on the inside of a card.
My hope is that when she finds it in her mailbox, she's instantly filled with good feelings, encouragement, the kind an email can't bring. And I believe the kind even a phone call can't bring.
Because some of us just communicate better without saying a word.
So, I ask you...when was the last time you wrote a letter or sent a card? Do you think it's important...or just old fashioned and obsolete? Would you accept the challenge to write one letter each week this summer? C'mon, I'm moving in a few weeks and I'm committed! :) What do you think??
