The Long Lost Letter



I adore receiving a letter, almost as much as I do writing one. It is such a thrill to go to the mailbox and find an envelope waiting inside amidst the bills and advertisements just for me. Normally I will wait, holding this precious letter for awhile, until I have a moment to really cherish the words the author has written to me.

I will sort through the bills, throw away the ads, go about the business of whatever needs to be done, tucking the letter in my purse and saving it till later. For me a letter must be savored, like a good piece of dark chocolate, or a steaming hot bubble bath. I don’t enjoy rushing to it, although, I know it’s there and my excitement increases at the thought. I look forward to reading it, don’t get me wrong, but I want to build my excitement wait till I can give the author my full attention.

Once I settle down to read it, I make sure I am comfortable and all is quiet, for I don’t like being disturbed when I am devouring the coveted words. It’s like sitting with an old friend and I often try to imagine the person’s tone as they have written it. What must their day have been like? What mood were they in? I crave to hear more about their lives as I consume each word.

The trouble these days with letter writing is they are too far and few between. Most of the authors of my letters rarely have time to jot more than a few words leaving me hungry for more. Lives have grown much too busy. It seems time to sit still long enough is something few of us have these days.

Most of us have gone the way of emails, which to me have also become too few and too short, or text messaging, which I can barely do or understand, much less see with my failing eye-sight. We hardly have a moment to make a phone call and when we do, it also is interrupted too often by our busy schedules. Cell phones, computers, text messaging, oh my, it is a whirlwind of technology that has far removed us from lingering long enough to enjoy each other.

When I was a young girl, I moved a lot and often lived far from friends and family. My link to these beloved people, were letters written in long-hand, on pretty paper and even sometimes on school notebook paper. As I would sit and write the letter, I would think about the receiver, how much I missed them and tell them all that was in my heart. I waited most impatiently for their replies. The mailman was my favorite person in those days and I longed for those letters from my grandmother or my dear best friends.

Later, when I was a young married woman, I still carried on this tradition. It was these letters, handwritten that got me through some very long winter months when I was a young mother. My dear sweet grandmother would often give me advice or just share with me her heart about God and what was going on in the family I so missed. Stories were told in those letters, lives were shared, recipes traded, secrets whispered, sadness and joy revealed all between those pretty pieces of lined paper.

Through the years, I have kept many of those letters. They are tied with ribbons and kept in boxes, and from time to time I gather them up to re-read and remember those who wrote them. Many who wrote me these letters have since passed on, some who have moved out of my life, and some still linger. Those pieces of paper are left behind for me as a story, history of our lives together, one day my children and grandchildren will be able to piece together some important things about my own life and those from my past.

I have not given up writing letters; I still love receiving them and re-started the tradition with my own sweet grand-daughter recently. I hope she will pass it down to her children and grandchildren. We have lost something in the art of letter writing, we have lost ourselves. In our hurry-up and busy world we seldom take enough time to sit long enough and enjoy each other, up close and personal.

I don’t want to forget this old fashioned tradition of staying in touch and am in hopes that when you receive one of my cards or letters, it might just inspire you to return the favor and write back to me, or maybe send a card with a note to someone else you care about. Take a moment and remember the excitement you once felt at receiving your own letter or card and spread that joy to someone else today.

Teresa Gale
September 13, 2009