When Last Did You Write a Real Letter??

Post by **jones jones** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:37 am

"Well, she wrote me a letter

Said she couldn't live without me no mo'.

Listen mister can't you see I got to get back

To my baby once a-mo'--anyway..."

I think it was The Box Tops who had a hit with "The Letter" way back when.

Anyway I was thinking about letter writing, the art of, today. Dunno why but I guess it’s the nostalgia thing again. I must confess that I haven't handwritten a letter since my aunt Flo died in about 1989. She and I used to correspond on a regular basis cos I never had a momma.

So I was wondering how, for instance, an e-mailed love letter would look today ... pretty sterile and unromantic I guess.

I can recall when I was in the Armed Forces at the age of twenty I think, I used write a letter to and receive a love letter from my girlfriend like every single week. She used to write "SWANK" on the back of the envelope and the violet colored, perfumed pages were folded in a certain way which meant something. I can still remember how she folded them, but for the life of me I can't remember what that special fold meant. We used to write using a fountain pen and sometimes used a different colored ink ... like red or green instead of the usual blue Stephens ink.

Guess the postman's bag must be pretty light today.

Can you remember when last you actually hand wrote a letter ... any letter??

along-for-the-ride · Post by **along-for-the-ride** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 6:04 am

I occasionally write a letter to my dad, who does not have internet access. My mom, who passed away several years ago, instilled in me the importance of letters and thank-you notes and what they mean to the recipient. To hold and read a letter written in the hand of someone you know and love is special and that letter is something you can keep and read again later.

It's a shame, but this is what's happening in the US with our Postal system;

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/15/news/ec ... index.html

Post by **jones jones** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 6:59 am

Yeah I guess this would be a natural and inevitable consequence of the Internet ... Maybe I'm old fashioned ... did I say maybe?? Of course I'm old fashioned, so to me the fetching of a letter from my mailbox, the tearing open the envelope, the unfolding of the pages is all a part of receiving a letter and then sitting down or at times walking up and down while reading it, make getting a letter an event.

Sigh ...

Post by **Betty Boop** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 7:47 am

SWALK, I think you mean, sealed with a loving kiss is what it stood for.

SWANK, sealed with a non kiss ?? new ?? nude??

along-for-the-ride · Post by **along-for-the-ride** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 7:56 am

Betty Boop;1410635 wrote: SWALK, I think you mean, sealed with a loving kiss is what it stood for.

SWANK, sealed with a non kiss ?? new ?? nude??

xxxx oooo (kisses and hugs)

Post by **jones jones** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 10:29 am

Betty Boop;1410635 wrote: SWALK, I think you mean, sealed with a loving kiss is what it stood for.

SWANK, sealed with a non kiss ?? new ?? nude??

Nooooooooooooooooooo Miss Boop! SWANK was ... Sealed With a Nice Kiss!!!

Like this ............. Mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 1:35 pm

Something to share here...

When I was first arrested 4 years ago, our postman knocked on the door Instead of using the mail box outside the gate and told my husband he had some very strangely addressed mail. Some was simply addressed to WW11 Pilots daughter, one was just addressed to Julie, Bristol. It was a sack, yes, sack of letters and after that day they just kept coming,

We spent days In tears reading very shaky writing from very old war veterans. All of them contained money from 50 p to cheques. Many of them were signed ' Disgusted Daily Mail reader' and had no reply address's. We went out and bought hundreds of cards all the same with just a simple poppy on them and wrote back to the one's who had given their address's. Some I am still In touch with today. ITV West got to hear about all this mail I was getting and visited me and filmed me. That was shown on the ITV West news one night.

Just for the critics, we gave all the money along with the donations to the court to pay my court costs when I was convicted, the fee I got from an Interview and the offer from the local rag for libelling me to the Royal British Legion.

Those letters meant so much to me, that strangers went out of their way to write to me.... I have every single one of them and I treasure them.

tabby · Post by **tabby** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 2:38 pm

I read this OP with particular interest! I'm an inveterate letter writer and have been most of my life. My grandmother lived 2 states away and starting when I was about seven years old, she & I began to send letters to one another once a week. She got me started with it and even though the ones I sent early on were bound to have been lame, our weekly correspondence continued until 1997 when she passed away at age 87. She wrote her last letter the day before her death and put it in the mail ... it was in my mailbox at home waiting for me when I returned from her funeral. I have all of her letters still, and trust me, it's a lot of them. They're in boxes in the attic mostly but that last one is still tucked in my lingerie drawer. It was just an ordinary letter like all others and I know she had no idea it would be her last.

What she prompted in me has led to a lifelong love of not only the written word but also of the joy of sitting quietly and handwriting thoughtful letters to friends scattered in the USA, British isles and France. Finding a letter in the mailbox is a joy still and a blessed relief from bills & junk mail!

As with most people, I use email every day but the urge to write a letter is still strong in me.

cars · Post by **cars** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:57 pm

tabby;1410670 wrote: I read this OP with particular interest! I'm an inveterate letter writer and have been most of my life. My grandmother lived 2 states away and starting when I was about seven years old, she & I began to send letters to one another once a week. She got me started with it and even though the ones I sent early on were bound to have been lame, our weekly correspondence continued until 1997 when she passed away at age 87. She wrote her last letter the day before her death and put it in the mail ... it was in my mailbox at home waiting for me when I returned from her funeral. I have all of her letters still, and trust me, it's a lot of them. They're in boxes in the attic mostly but that last one is still tucked in my lingerie drawer. It was just an ordinary letter like all others and I know she had no idea it would be her last.

What she prompted in me has led to a lifelong love of not only the written word but also of the joy of sitting quietly and handwriting thoughtful letters to friends scattered in the USA, British isles and France. Finding a letter in the mailbox is a joy still and a blessed relief from bills & junk mail!

As with most people, I use email every day but the urge to write a letter is still strong in me.

Very nice story, thanks for sharing. I hand write letters to friends & relatives, and I too like to receive "letters" in my mailbox. And as was mentioned, unfortunetely they are becoming fewer and fewer these days. At least I still get "real" BD and anniversary cards, with many of them containing a "hand written" message in them as well.

I do admit though, I use emails for quick correspondence

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 6:25 pm

I still write letters to friends and family, once or twice a month. We talk on the phone all the time. I only text my kids, it is there way of communicating these days, and I like getting instant photos of the grandson.