In the old days, there was a real excitement experienced over getting a letter. I remember, as a child, being thrilled when my cousin would write me a letter. It was such a special thing! I would linger over her words and enjoy reading and saving them in my special drawer. There were the occasional crossed out words, or silly drawings, or whatever, but it was so “her.” As close as I could get to being with her.
In high school, my boyfriend worked for the Forestry Service all summer. He and I wrote long and passionate letters to each other, telling how lonely we were, how much we missed the charms denied, and how we were filling our time until we were together again. It was special.
When my husband Alex was at sea (U.S. Navy) for six months at a time, I wrote to him every day. By this time (1987 or so), I was using a word processor most of the time, but sometimes handwritten letters were sent as well. There was an intimacy, a real powerful connection that was had during these sometimes ten-page missives. I still have cartons of those letters in my basement—his letters and mine.
My son John was also a Navy airman and I wrote to him every day when he was at sea. The difference between receiving mail and not receiving mail was the most important thing in the world to these sailors. Word from home mattered. My son’s friends at sea would also get to read his mother’s letters. I had quite a fan club because I wrote about daily life in the USA and I’m somewhat irreverent. “My Date With The Saved Christian Dude with a Penis Tattoo” is just one example.
When Alex was called to active duty in the dark days following 9/11, and sent to the Middle East for a year deployment, technology had changed everything. We no longer wrote letters. Email was the mode of communication and it was faster, easier, and the most convenient way to communicate. I would wait by the computer at a certain time every evening for his email to arrive. Since Alex was in a “Combat Com” Unit, we also were able to talk almost every day, since he had access to phones and lines.
Yeah, the technology had improved. But had the communications? I really question that. I used to pour my heart out in letters. You think about what you write. You think about how it will be received and understood. I just wonder if the convenience of the instant gratification can ever come close to the “letter.” Somehow, I doubt that that “ How R U” will ever replace what was done “in the olden days.”
