Good Old Snail Mail

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When I was 14 my Dad's job was transferred to Arizona, and my family and I found ourselves being uprooted from our small town in New Jersey to a suburb of Phoenix. Even at that often-tumultuous age I didn't mind moving too much- I was extremely outgoing and I actually looked forward to meeting new people. I did, however, miss my childhood pals terribly. I had been born and raised in the same place, the same home, and had deep roots where I grew up. Luckily though it was the 90s, and although email was beginning to take off, my friends and I still preferred good old snail mail to keep in touch. For the first few years of my Arizona life my girlfriends and I mailed hundreds of letters back and forth. I still have most of them in a huge box. Sometimes when I'm at my parents' I get that box out and sift through them. If you were to join me you'd see pages upon pages of carefully crafted 14-year old penmanship, i's dotted with hearts, tons of "LYLAS" and "SWAK," and stickers. Lots of stickers.

I can still remember waiting for the mail to come every single day, and when I saw brightly colored, probably Lisa Frank stationary sticking out through the pile my Mom would bring inside, my heart would jump in my chest.

Now a days though, mail is mainly full of bills, junk, or strange catalogs for ill-fitting women's clothing I'll never buy. On some fabulous days we receive packages, and on even more special days there will be a card or a letter from someone I love.

I'm lucky enough to know quite a few ladies who pride themselves on using the postal service. They are pen pal extraordinaires and work at keeping the art of letter-writing alive. I am not so good at it, but every so often I'll send a letter off to a friend and I get so excited thinking about how excited they'll probably get, getting real mail.

I thought it would be fun to encourage all of you to go get some pretty stationary, your favorite pen, and write a few letters to people you care about. I guarantee you that a handwritten letter will probably make your Grandma's day, as I'm sure in her lifetime she's seen the sad decline of letters coming to her mailbox. Mail something off to a faraway friend just to say hello or send a letter to an old teacher letting them know how much they impacted you. Real, handwritten letters mean so much more than an email, and I am willing to bet that your recipient's day will be made.

So, let's all promise to write three handwritten letters this upcoming week! In the comments below, tell me who you are going to write your three letters to...and if you comment and commit, you must follow through! ;) Are you in?