Letters

When was the last time you received a long, hand-written letter from someone you loved?

I'm reading a wonderful book,”Last Letters from Attu” by Mary Breu. Most of the book is a collection of letters from the author's aunt who was a teacher in remote native villages in Alaska during the years before World War II. She was captured by the Japanese from the small island of Attu and become a prisoner of war. The letters are long, newsy letters to her family about her life. They are fascinating. I am so glad her family saved them and made them available for others to read.

The book reminded me of all the letters I used to write and receive from my family. My mom and I exchanged letters at least once a week until she was no longer able to write. I loved the long letters full of the trivia that made up her life. We shared stories about family and news about friends. We shared our fears and joys. Those letters were always such a joy to read. Sadly only a few of her letters remain. The few I do have are a precious connection to her and a fascinating family history.

Letter writing is a lost art. We tweet and update our status on facebook. We text and occasionally actually talk on the phone. We don't sit down and write letters to the people we love. I miss the joy of going to mailbox and finding a letter addressed with the familiar hand writing of someone I love.

I don't plan to start a letter-writing campaign, although the US Post Office could use the business. Instead I will write my letters on this blog. I hope one day that my family will find them interesting.