Laura M Bailey

Letter

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During a recent visit, my mother brought me a postcard that had been sent to my great grandmother. What an amazing thing, not only because it belonged to my great grandmother but because it’s such a rare item. Dare I say that the chances are slim that the younger generation will ever recieve or send one. Letter writing has become a lost art or perhaps it’s the lost art of communication.

We live in an instant world. Messages are sent instantly. First, we replaced letters with email. Soon my inbox was filled with not letters but ads and spam. When a friend did email me, it had degraded to some sort of GIF which amounted to SPAM instead of real communication. The phone call was replaced by texts which became shorter and shorter with time until it became a series of abbreviations.

Social media was supposed to save us but even that became reduced to what amounts to puckered lipped selfies, political debate, venting and “all about me” blurbs. And, with the hundreds of “friends” I have on FB, I actually enjoy the most real communication within my blogging community right here.

I’ve been thinking about the last time I opened my mailbox and found a handwritten letter. It felt like christmas and I treasured it! The thought that someone took the time to sit down and personally pen a letter was overwhelming and precious.

Too, although my handwriting looks like I do it with my feet since hand surgery, I’d like to start a revival of letter writing. If you’d like to recieve a letter, email your name, address and blog site to me at: blessedwithhope@yahoo.com

Finally, I’ll leave you with this song, Please Mr Postman – The Marvelettes https://youtu.be/dcLbS0yxzdk

Always With Love – Laura

Published by Laura M Bailey

This blog is my attempt to write down the bones of a crazy, random, uncharted life and all the shoes I've worn along the way... From beach baby to city girl, wife. Mother, grandmother. Daughter, sister, coolest Aunt ever, construction worker, grease monkey, writer, poet, Publicity director, public speaker, tattoo studio owner and artist, crafter, cook, music promoter, race horse owner, breeder, Rancher and above all a flawed human profoundly in love with God. Within these stories I hope you'll find the sorrows , joys, inspiration in ordinary places, sheer hilarity of life and all the common threads that connect us all.

31 comments

  3. I am a huge fan of all things stationery!! Like, obsessed. I have hand-written letters from people I don’t even know but bought at a flea market. I have a slew of love letters from a couple who went on to marry after she attended college. Those have been fun to read. Those days seem so much more innocent than now.

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    • It’s so hard to find pretty stationary ANYWHERE anymore. When I was young, are granted that was awhile ago, stationary was a staple of almost any store. I love you collect old letters! I have bought bundles of them from antique stores. Love reading the story between them and in form and formal language that is no longer used. It’s a romance I have with these old letters. šŸ’•

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      • It’s nice to cherish something. It makes discovering those items even more memorable. I collect it all šŸ˜Œ! I have been going through my studio for days trying my best to let go of some stuff. I’ve done well. The pieces I can’t part with I decided to begin a book for. It’s a miscellaneous catch-all housing paper from friends, family, even WordPress bloggers. I keep tucking bits and bobs everywhere- have always- but I think I’ve found my solution šŸ˜³šŸ¤­šŸ˜‚

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  4. I still have a card put away somewhere with my Nana’s signature and a birthday wish with her writing I love you. She is no longer here but every time I see those words she wrote it is almost like she is saying I love you all over again. I seemed to have misplaced the card so hopefully it is in one of my many stackers of old photos, kids drawings and cards from the past. A couple times over the years I would find that card in the oddest places. I would pick it up on a shelf when dusting, or it would fall out of an old book when I was organizing, always in moments when I needed to hear my Nana’s words from the past. I told my husband how weird it was that that old birthday card kept showing up like that to remind me that yes, you are loved. It all comes from the mother I grew up with and her treatment of me not really having a mother’s love as a child, anyway, that’s a very long and boring story that is best left in the past. That is so sweet that you are writing letters. I started writing letters to my mother-in-law during the pandemic with updates and she seems to enjoy reading them. Trying to keep us all connected and sane.

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  6. I used to teach my elementary students how to write a letter. For many, this was their first experience, and hardly anyone knew how to address an envelope.

    I regret not hanging onto any of my grandma’s letters to me. She used to proofread my letters and point out my mistakes on her return letters. šŸ˜Ž

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    • Hahaha Did she help inspire you to teach? I am a sentimental person who cherishes every gift that given to me, a picture drawn, a book and ashtray….I’ll keep them forever, so naturally, I keep hand written correspondence. I was very fortunate that my great grandmother was also a sentimental person as she kept her keepsakes and letter in a large black trunk that we still have. It allows me to know her thoughts, hear her voice and know her more. I love that.

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  7. I was going to suggest a postcard/letter offer. Some of my other blog friends do it. My current bookmark is about 7 postcards from around the world.

    I hope I remember to send my info… I tend to forget what I’m doing by the time email opens!!

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  8. So amazing! I have recipes hand-written by my great-grandmother. I found enough to give one to all my girl cousins. We have them framed in our kitchens. Because of this, I have made a point to hand-write my recipes so they can be passed on.

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    • Omgosh! How precious is that! And, what a fantastic idea to frame them for your kitchen! If you’ve read my blog much, you know I love to cook and bake. You have inspired me to hand write my recipes too! Thank you so much, Holly!

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  10. If I saw something written by my grandmother or mother today, I would still recognize the handwriting! Nice writeup, Laura! ā¤ I still usually do first drafts of poems with a pencil on notebook paper. Gotta get away from the blue light whenever you can! All the best! Cheryl

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