Letter writing

I heard an interesting story on NPR yesterday. The story on "This American Life" was about pen pals and the way we correspond. It caught my attention when they started talking about how we communicate via our cell phones. Our conversations are usually very general and used for basic information (I'm here;I'll be there at 4; etc.). In the times that all correspondence was hand delivered and when you didn't know if it would even arrive, people were much more deliberate in what they wrote about. Letters were few and far between because of delivery methods.

So...this got me thinking about the way I communicate/correspond with others. There isn't much more I love than getting a letter in the mail! I mean my mail box...not my email inbox. I enjoy getting cards, too, but to have someone spend the time to write you a letter...wow! I'm sad to say that this hardly ever happens. Actually, I can't remember the last time I got a letter in the mail. Oh, don't get me wrong, I accept responsibility in this as well. I can't remember the last time I wrote a letter.

Some of my favorite letters are the "family update letters" that come around the holidays. I always wanted my mom to do a letter like that, but she never has. I guess it is kind of crazy to think that anyone is interested in what is happening with our family. My favorites come from people that we don't hear from too much, but they always send the letter with a family photo. I guess this speaks to my nosey side. My sister and I always laugh because the letters only tell the good stuff. How much fun would it be to read some real life (but not glamorous) things like...susie is still trying to get into law school, but she can't seem to get a good score on her LSAT exam...billy has been dating a new girl every other week. He can't seem to find the right match. Maybe he's gay...lisa decided to get a perm this year. Not a good idea....etc, etc, etc.

On a more serious note...I've decided to make a commitment to write a letter once a week. Who knows if I'll really do it. I assume that others would like to get letters as much as I do. Fortunately for me, I think I have a lot of people that I can write to. It will be interesting to see if I get anything in return.

Oh...by the way...don't look for the holiday letter from our family this year. I'll go ahead and do the highlights that I can think of:
*Mom got a new job. She'll be at the same school as Holly.
*Donnie was born.
*Jamie and the Treys got promotions at work
*We took a trip to San Antonio. Other places we've visited (individually or as a family) - Hollywood (Jamie), Puerto Vallarta (Jamie), Cozumel (Karen), Fredericksburg (Holly and Trey), Lithuania (Karen, Allen, Ruta and Ona), London (Karen and Allen on the way back from Lithuania), South Carolina (Karen and Allen), Texas (Greyson and Aaron)
*New cars all around! (Jamie-Escape; Holly/Trey-Pathfinder; Karen/Allen-CRV and Element; Trey/Ruta-Mom's Explorer)
*We all got new cell phones. Mine is blue.
*Ally is potty trained (she wears pull-ups at night)

See...who would care about any of that stuff?