The Old-Fashioned Handwritten Letter

I sent an old-fashioned handwritten letter to my best friend last week. And it felt good.

I could not remember the last time that I sent a handwritten letter to anyone. In fact, the only time that I received a handwritten letter lately was from my neighbor up the street who always writes to me on my birthday. And one of my best friend’s mothers who helped raise me sends me handwritten letters with her Christmas cards (remember them?)   

It got me thinking as to how we as people have gotten away from writing letters. Text messaging, instant messaging, email, Facebook all these things are so accessible and quick that the day of the written letter is all but a thing of the past. Maybe we should begin to write them again.

If one is old enough to remember there was nothing like receiving a letter in the mail from someone we had not heard from in a while. I can remember living in a college dormitory and how my dorm mates and I would go to the mailbox looking for letters from friends and family back home. Then writing back to them.

We had no choice. There was no such thing as cellphones, and the internet was in its infancy. We did not even know about it.  Having a landline phone in your room was too expensive. And even if you and a couple of roommates shared the bill long distance calls cost too much.

So, letters it was.

Writing a letter to my best friend brought back all these memories. It was something that I hope today’s youth take the time to experience. There is nothing like handwriting a letter to someone you care about. And receiving a handwritten letter from someone who cares about you.

To me, a handwritten letter personalizes things. It is written in the style of the person who wrote it. Written in their language with their thought process. They may spell a word or two wrong. The grammar may not be great. But that is the beauty of it. Modern technology is not involved. It is all the work of the writer.

When I read a handwritten letter sent to me, I can hear the voice of the writer. Not that I cannot with an email or other form of social media. But with a handwritten letter the writing style usually matches the sender’s personality. It is as if they are talking to you.

I felt that way when I wrote that letter to my best friend. And I read and reread it before I sent it to make sure I put in everything that I wanted to. It was six pages long.

When my best friend got it, he sent me a text message (this is 2025) saying that he loved it. And unlike my text messages I am pretty sure that letter is going to go in a special place. When we love people, we keep things they give us that are special to us.

I know it is so much easier to communicate quickly in today's world. But there is nothing like the old-fashioned handwritten letter.

We should all think about sending one to someone from time to time.