This morning when I came downstairs the postman had already been, (which means I wasn’t up early!!). He left the usual bills etc. but there was also a letter addressed to Karla, it was a dental appointment for September.
Luke had already noticed the letter for Karla so he said “Mammy did you see Karla got ‘mail’ today” (Yes he calls the post “mail”) What he said next amazed me, “Mammy you know the way Lochlann is in America, well he wrote a letter to Connor telling him all about America, and he drew a picture and everything, and he did it on paper…… I mean he actually wrote it with his hand, (I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!!) and then he sent it in an envelope all the way from America, and the post man gave it to Connor, he didn’t do it on the computer, and print it out, or he didn’t send it by e-mail, the postman actually brought it to his HOUSE.
“Well that’s how letters work Luke!!”
“But isn’t it a GREAT idea Mammy…. To actually write and send a letter to someone, its so handy they don’t have to be on the computer to read it and they can show it to all their friends and everything, like just have it in their pocket”
I couldn’t believe my 9 year old explaining ‘Letters’ to me!! I mean I know everything is very technical now and we send e-mails and keep in touch with faraway friends on Facebook, but he had never heard of an actual personal letter, come to think of it I don’t think he has ever gotten a letter.
It made me think about what we are losing to computers, I know how wonderful they are, we couldn’t manage in our house without them (3 laptops and a PC) But no one ‘write’s’ anymore.
The ‘hand written word’ is so personal, Luke and Karla’s little notes give you a sense of their personality, you can feel Luke’s kindness when he writes a note or draws a picture, and you can see immediately how creative Karla is, as she uses images to tell her stories.
I thought about it, and I don’t remember the last time I actually ‘wrote’ to someone. Years ago, I used to love getting a letter from Eavan or Clodagh another friend who was great at writing letters, she would write to me from lots of different locations, she was an air hostess and had lots of romance’s and adventures to relay.
It made me think, we are definitely able to communicate with more people now, but are we more personal, are we giving anything of ourselves through our inserted ‘smiley faces’ and our ‘lol’s. I think xxx is not really kiss kiss kiss anymore, just 3 friendly x’s. Its all nice, but its just not the same as seeing an envelope with familiar handwriting on the front. An e-mail doesn’t put a smile on your face the way a beautiful handwritten letter does.
And so yes!!, this weekend I’m going to write to someone whom I haven’t seen in ages, and hopefully put a smile on her face.