I'm of the Transitional Generation.
Posted May 1st, 2008 at 1:06AM
In school we had pen pals, and actually wrote letters. We were expected to write thank you notes, and cards...When my best friend moved to California in ninth grade, we wrote to each other for a while.
By the time I got to high school the internet was really starting to catch on, and when I hit college, there was this big computer lab, and everyone was starting to really get online. Mind you, people like us EP rats were looked at with considerable disdain for "chatting' and being involved in forums and the like, but I was one of the ones who did it.
The internet was big, but a good number of us didn't have internet at home. So most of us exchanged addresses, and we wrote to each other over the summer.
Now, people don't even call me anymore. It's just text messaging. Long distance is no big deal because it's free for most people, after seven pm anyway, so there's no need for the long letter...
Letters in the mail will forever remind me of summers away from college, and missing my college friends so deeply, and not having the phone cards to talk to them every day, and writing. Back then, I got a letter almost every day, and I felt special. I loved to sit and read about their day, and see the grooves in the paper from their handwriting...I loved to see the that envelope that I knew wasn't a bill or junk mail, and know as soon as I saw it that that one with the purple ink was from my roomate because she always wrote with a purple pen...and her boyfriend's roomate had that writing that looked like computer printing, which was funny because he was a computer science major.
You just don't get things like that with email.
And yes, I could even overlook the spelling mistakes, because there was no delete button.
Snail mail also reminds me of my husband, because when he was in Marine Corps boot camp, we couldn't talk for thirteen weeks. So we wrote...And when he was deployed...and in Iraq. I still have every letter. He'd always find a way to send me little snippets of his day. Once there was a tiny shell that got into his shoe during a beach run, and he couldn't stop to get it out...once some sand from very near Ur (where Abraham in the Bible was from), once a rubbing from his dog tags, and always, always, a little box (or twelve) drawn on the letter and envelope. These were our secret kisses. Instead of lipstick kisses (since I don't normally wear it), I'd box in my kisses, and he'd do the same.
Out of all my friends, online and otherwise, I have two who still send me cards and letters; when those letters come, they're the best part of my day.
-
Oh my god....thats so cool.
I had a pen pal in the third grade and we kept in touch until we got married. Then I never heard from her again. -
Aww...Pen pals were so great, weren't they?
-
I love getting a card or letter the traditional way myself. A huge pet peeve of mine is people not sending thank you cards. Perhaps not for every little thing, but if I sprung for a wedding gift, take the time to send a thank you note! Especially now when you purchase and ship gifts online off of registries and if you don't get a thank you card you are not even sure if they received the gift!
-
Love this story. I'm 41, and I have 3 penpals. It's nice knowing I might have a letter waiting for me instead of bills and junk mail, and nice to curl up on the sofa with a long letter.
-
Yes, that's great...letters and not bills or junk mail. *sigh*
And, that's was always the best part - the length! I remember getting letters that were three and four pages long from friends - we couldn't text or call each other every day, and it seemed that so much was happening. I miss that! If I get actual emails, they're usually 2-liners, or more often, a comment on myspace. Snail mail is the best though! -
I'm 21 years old and I still have penpals... sometimes I feel awkward because people think that I'm crazy for writing letters in the internet era. Well, I don't mind. The worst thing is not finding cute letter paper and stuff, because most people don't use it anymore...
-
I love letters,writing them and getting them.
There used to be some stationery which had a crinkly edge and came in pale mauve or blue,I can't remember the name,does anyone know if it is still made?
I had penpals for ages,I have a couple now.The internet's OK,but nothing beats phone calls and letters,
they will never die.I always send thankyou letters and cards,its just common politeness to do so.
Lunatic,you're not awkward at all having penpals,believe me!!I'm always looking for nice stationery too. Texts are great,but they don't always get to their destination on time,causing misunderstandings.You expect them to get there immediately! -
The paper Highland gir is talking about is "crane." It is beautiful to write and receive a letter on good old traditiona "Crane." I write letters and card almost every day to friends and family. I love sending and receiving mail. I just wrote a letter to the professor I work for who is retiring and he said it was the nicest thing he had received in a long time. He couldn't believe I still handwrote letters! It was such a pleasure!
-
Was it called Crane?I just remembered the name this
morning-Churston Deckle.
However,I think the internet is a great medium,sadly it is too often abused.... -
you should check out Postcrossing.com, it's a great fix for those of us with snail-mail withdrawal!
-
highlandgirl is good to know ther're other people who still writes letters for pleasure...
I never bought really letter paper because I can't find it anywhere. I just write in colored paper or recycled one... i doubt that i can find those you mentioned... =( -
highlandgirl is good to know ther're other people who still writes letters for pleasure...
I never bought really letter paper because I can't find it anywhere. I just write in colored paper or recycled one... i doubt that i can find those you mentioned... =( -
Look @ my age bracket, yet I'm in LOVE WITH SNAIL MAIL!
I remember a time I would subscribe to all sorts of things, just so I could have to pleasure of getting mail (real mail) lol
I love checking the mailbox! -
I still write letters. There's just something about getting a card or letter in the mail. The idea that they took time to do this for me is wonderful. I even postcard.
-
I had one or two myself but it didin't last too long. It was fu while it lasted, though.
-
I still try to write letters to important people in my life at least twice a year... paper is just so much more personal... and it means you care...
-
I love this story. I used to send mail to classmates even though we saw each other every day. We used to send stupid stuff like stickers and drawings, even when we were older! Someone tried to send me my missing sock but the postage cost more than a stamp!
My husband and I only had letters in Iraq too. He used to write really bad poetry that I thought was so adorable. I had a little gold leaf fall off my uniform so I taped it and sent it to him in the mail. I'd try to put perfume that I used to wear on the letters. But I wondered if the sand and travel would wear the scent down. He said it still lingered. The letters always looked ages old because of all the handling and weather.
Letters were always a romantic way of sending a part of yourself to someone else that was far away. You could touch it, feel it, smell it...it made you feel close just for a small second of time. -
There are a many things I feel about this.
Memories of any kind have some pain hidden somewhere. I believe this based upon my own experience and from Buddha's teachings. The thought that something once was and is no more, is in itself sad.
But we are humans and there are attachments. Undeniably.
I think, at least from where I come, technology has brought more people together, more in contact, especially the one's who have migrated to foreign countries. Internet has made it possible to be in contact. To get the feeling that they are actually, physically there somewhere, and not just faded off into far-off-ness.
The letter on paper are definitely more personal, more touching and there is a certain feeling associated with them which cannot be expressed. Its sad they do not fit more into current scheme of things anymore. -
I definitely miss receing letters. I get soo touched by it. Knowing that im reading the person's handwriting, that they took the time to write me something. When i was livin in the naval base, I met this guy. RIght before I left to come back home, he slipped a letter under the door. He's handwriting and spelling were bad, but i overlooked that because i was so flattered that someone took the time to do that for me. I felt special in that moment. I still go back to my old letters and read them sometimes. Some from friends, old crushes, and families.
-
I would like to comment on the teachings of Buddha and attachment. Completely respectful because the comment really made me think about attachment. So I hope I don't offend. I'm actually intrigued this came up.
Sadness was part of his path to enlightenment, wasn't it? I can't remember. Feeling the weight of the world gave him acknowledgment of what was around him. Complete sadness awakened him to things in the world he was not aware of but lingering would do him no good. He didn't start with the middle way from the beginning. It was more so a path than detachment becuase detachment without the path and journey would create apathy and apathy would create trouble unto others.
There is little room for sadness in something you are fond of. But lingering is the difference. You can feel and let go. -
I think that is really cool. In the past, I had several of pen pals. No one wants to write a letter anymore. It would be great to have pen pals again. Any takers? :-)
-
I had penpals too! I lived in a tiny little rural village and had penpals from all over the world...it was my escape!
I haven't written a letter in years, I love email. I HATE phones though, hope they eventually fade away :-)
I loved your writing, it brought back great memories! But I wouldn't ever go back to snail mail! -
ANY THING THAT BREAKS DOWN THE BONDS OF COMMUNITY AND HUMANITY SHOULD BE ADMIRED AND NOURISHED.
-
I agree with ya! My family didn't get a computer until I was in 8th or 9th grade, so I remember all the "love letters" I used to get from my elementary, middle, and high school sweethearts. I still have a lot of them in my closet in my old room. In a way, it's sad that that's an experience I probably won't have with my next girlfriend, you know? What will people of my generation have to show our grandkids when it's our turn to tell all the cool stories we ourselves used to love hearing from our own grandparents?
callmechia, I'll have to check out that site! -
I am 23 and I still like to write letters and receive snail mail. When I lived at home, my parents always checked the mail, so for me it's a fun thing to be able to check my own mail and see what's arrived from friends and family.
I have friends I've met online whom I now write to overseas, or other parts of the country, and I really enjoy that. I do e-mail a lot of friends, especially those within the same province (I live in Canada), but I like to find room and time to write friends the old-fashioned way too. -
wow, that is so romantic.
-
I loved this story. The correspondence between you and your husband sounds so romantic!
I don't have pen-pals anymore- I am 23 now and as you said the Internet and text messaging have really taken over but when I was 11 my best friend moved 600 miles away and we wrote each other letters for the next five years. Whenever I had a bad day at the school- which happened a lot near the beginning because I really missed my friend- it would cheer me up no end to come home and find a letter from her telling me what was going in her life- invariably written on notepaper with pretty designs and sometimes in colorful gel pen. :-) -
I had several pen pals when I was young (before the internet). I haven't heard from them since I graduated from high school. I haven't received a letter in the mail in several years. I loved that too.
That's sweet your husband makes boxes for his kisses. Or rubbings of his dog tags. Or (my favorite) he got a pebble in his shoe and couldn't take it out and what that felt like.
Great story. Thanks for the smile :~) -
It's kind of sad that convenience (read: email) has taken over so much...now we just take pictures of the rock with our cell phones and send them...the immediacy is good, but yeah, I like letters better :)
-
Getting snail mail letters is such a rush because it is so rare or non-existent anymore. Letter writing is definitely a lost art....
44 Comments (add your own)
Sort By