Snail Mail?

How many of you actually HAND write letters to friends and family? I'm not talking about thank you notes but actually letters? Writing has always been my outlet and escape. I love to take out a notebook or nice piece of paper and write. Pencils are my instrument of choice but blue pens with a softer ink are okay too. I'm not a big fan of ballpoint pens. In grade school I had a pen pal in Dublin Ireland. We wrote short but serious and silly letters to each other. Occasionally we would send a little gift with the letters. I anxiously awaited a letter after mailing one. In highschool and again in college I had friends that I wrote, even a boyfriend that lived in Germany who wrote every week. Again I lived for those letters. My mom wrote me notes and letters once a week too. Her letters were more about the cats, the weather, the crazy changes in our little town, church and the neighbors. I loved those letters because they really let me in to the daily life she was living. Now that I live in la la land and the internet and email are the common forms of communication I have been lucky to find yet another pen pal. We've never met in person. We've been writing to each other for almost 3 years which is amazing. Our letters cover everything including child rearing, recipes, travel, weather, and of course the craziness in our general lives as mothers and women. Her letters mean the world to me when they arrive. Sometimes the letter is full of excitement and energy so that I can almost see her writing with vigor, sometimes the letter hits FAR too close to home for me making me think about my actions, and the best make me laugh out loud. I've kept most of them tucked away in places where I can read one if I want to. Within hours of reading the letter paper is pulled out and I'm writing her back with my thoughts and news. One of these days we'll meet. One of these days the rest of the world will realize exactly how cool it is to have a pen pal and receive "snail" mail. I hope that when Wylie gets into school and wants a pen pal the postal service will still be there to allow him to find a friend. So, if you write a letter to me with pen and paper I promise I will write you back.