The lost art of letter writing

A few weeks ago I was rummaging through some boxes in the loft and I found a letter my dad had written to me when I was living in India. When my dad died I found a stack of letters he'd kept that I'd sent him when I was travelling. It was moving to discover these reminders of our past, distant moments we'd shared, much of which I had forgotten. Time and distance are no match for love. Reading back through those pages it was like looking back into a moment of our lives captured not just in words, but in the distinctive style and character of his hand writing and language. I could hear his voice again, as though he had never gone.

This was in the world before emails, texts and social media. My dad never sent an email in his life, struggled with texts and was banned from Facebook more than anyone I know. I wonder how we will capture memories and moments in the future? I’m no Luddite and embrace new technology with as much as enthusiasm as anyone. I see the many advantages of electronic systems, but the volume and immediacy gives them a fleeting, transient nature. They are discarded as easily as they are written and read. Have we sacrificed convenience for quality and value?

Imagine my joy all those years ago when I arrived in some remote part of India and rushed to the village post office to find a letter from my dad, his neat, considered hand writing staring at me from the envelope. It was a special kind of feeling, something we have lost. Those letters have survived long after he has gone. They will remain alongside the memories and the love. Where will those shared treasures of the future lie? Are we eroding important pieces of our personal history?

My thought for the day is this. Write someone you love a letter.