LETTERS

What a joy to open the mailbox and find a letter. Or even better, to find two letters! I quickly open them and read top to bottom, then I lay them aside, and later I sit down with a cup of tea and reread at my leisure. The letter stays on my desk and when I sit down to reply I read it once again. A short note is appreciated, but a 2 or 3 page letter is a true joy. How nice to read of our friends activities, their health, and how things are going for their families. We love Christmas letters. Some friends, we only hear from at the Holidays, and we are happy to read about their year and what has been happening in their lives. Phone calls are nice, but they are made at the caller's connivance. Email is wonderful for a quick note, but many use this modern technology to waste every one's time by merely filling up my mailbox with erroneous warnings of dire happenings or with foolish messages or pictures, forwarding them to me and everyone else in their address book. Hopefully, they wouldn't waste a stamp to mail this drivel, but they will fill up my in box with it. But they don't take the time to write us a "real" note.

We received a "thank you" note in today's mail. From a young man, who recently graduated from High School. He had the time to open our congratulation card and find the money enclosed and he took the time to sit down and write us a note. And we appreciated that. When I was very young, my Mother explained that when the time came that I was to busy to write a note of "thanks", that I should return gifts unopened, for I surely would NOT have time to open and use what was enclosed.

We send lots of picture postcards. We have several older friends and relatives, who live at a distance. We want them to know that they are often in our thoughts and prayers. So we search for the "scenic and the silly" area postcards and we write a brief note and send them off. It only takes a few minutes to keep in touch.

My family knows I can always use a box of pretty note cards or stationary. A book of stamps, or a new pen, they all will get used sooner or later, so it is easy to shop for me.

There are cards for most major Holidays. Isn't everyone Irish on St. Pat's day? What better way to acknowledge our gratitude for some one's friendship than to send them a card at Thanksgiving. Valentine's Day, Easter, and of course, New Year's and Christmas, birthdays or Anniversaries, there are cards for every occasion, jot a note and you'll put an envelope of cheer in some one's mailbox. And of all the cards and letters we write, none are more important or appreciated than the ones sent to someone coping with serious illness or struggling with the death of a loved one.

I must go and get busy at my desk!