Write a Letter!

Letters. Written ones. This will be a topic I will be using more often than I originally planned. I might have mentioned it, but I am organizing the family letters of several generations of Richerts. I am amazed at how often some wrote and ashamed at how little I write.

Part of my slow progress in organizing the family letters has been cause by curiosity. When I see a letter from my father to my grandfather, I want to stop and read it. It is very hard to resist reading, instead of sorting, the war years letters to and from my B-17 navigator great-uncle. The letters to my great-grandfather from my great-great- grandfather I can’t read; there in 19^th century German cursive. Going to need some technology on that one.

I am not going to suggest any correlation between frequency of correspondence to degree of affection. We all have friends and relatives whom we infrequently contact and are most precious to us. Conversely, there are people who communicate daily with us and if that communication were cut in half, it would still be too often.

 Now, there is no doubt that in the last generation methods of communication have become faster and more ephemeral. While the telephone was invented in the 19^th century (no way am I going to start a debate on its inventor) cost and network issues kept it from really impacting the use of mail until the second half of the 20^th century. We are all familiar with what email, text, and video chat have done to written correspondence. Like shopping at Walmart due to price and convenience, we are using these newer means of communication instead of letter writing.

        There are nuggets of history in the letters, but mostly insights to the family and day to day life. We’ll have more visual records of that for future generations, but I think the ability to hold, feel, and read a letter somehow convey additional import to the experience. An email just isn’t the same.

        As I admit, I certainly have been guilty of this and that is part of my shame. There was a time in my life where I let other considerations take priority and I now have a better grasp of the special ingredients that add to our life experience. A piece of paper with markings on it is certainly one of them. I will make a greater effort to write one to you. I hope you save it.