Back in the “old days,” I was an avid letter writer. There was no such thing as email or texting back in the 70’s when I was in high school and college. I had a few pen pals (one in England, one in Maine) and it was the highlight of my day when I’d receive a HANDWRITTEN letter from one of them. Equally, I delighted in writing letters back to them.
In college, away from home for the first time, I loved getting “real” letters on pretty stationary from family and friends. Writing letters in return was both a pleasure and an expressive outlet.
Over the years, this passion for letter writing faded as email and then texting came into vogue. Don’t get me wrong. I love my email accounts; my business wouldn’t be as healthy and growing as it is without access to emailing book vendors, podcast hosts, workshop participants, and of course… all of YOU!
In early 2021, a friend told me about a volunteer organization called Soldiers’ Angels, and I immediately felt excited! Now, several times a month, I write REAL letters on REAL stationery to various deployed members of our Armed Forces. All I know is the person’s name and military address. I don’t know exactly where they are going and we don’t expect responses, but over the last few years, I have heard back from men and women deployed in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Germany, and more.
The experience has been so rewarding that in my latest novel, Feathers in the Sand, I included a character who decides to join the Army and go through Basic Training. His mother (Tess) and sister (Eva) are left behind, bereft, and begin to write him “real” letters (as well as email and Facetime sessions). There’s also another character, Glory Jones, whose daughter is also in the military and she tells Tess and Eva about Soliders’ Angels also.
I really enjoy spreading the word about the lost art of Letter Writing.
What about you? Do you write “real” letters any more? If you were to write a letter to someone this month, who would you write to and what would you say?