Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Snail Mail Blessings

I hardly ever get anything personal, fun, or exciting via snail mail anymore.  Most of my correspondence these days happens via cell phone calls, texts, or e-mails (or even blog comments, but not tweets--I'm putting my foot down about the whole Twitter thing).   I guess this just means that I'm exactly like any other human living in the 21st century, but it makes me sort of sad sometimes.

I can still remember--vividly, although it was over 30 years ago--making trips to my campus P.O. box at the College of the Holy Cross, bursting with hope and excitement.  (I can't remember anyone's phone # anymore, because now that I have a "contacts list" on my magical iPhone, memorizing those seven digits is as passe as pet rocks and disco music; but I can still remember my college P.O. box #: 981.)  As I approached the campus center, my pace and my heart rate would both accelerate: would there be a letter in my mailbox from my handsome boyfriend out at Notre Dame (now my husband)?  One written in his rushed and crazy-jaggedy, manly cursive?  "Please, please, please, God--let there be a letter!"  Every time I saw that inimitable handwriting on an envelope, I left that place floating on a cloud.  I still have my husband's college letters stored away in a cardboard box, and I don't believe I'll ever be able to throw them out.

So I have a question for all you young'uns out there: do you print out and save e-mails from your sweethearts in little treasure boxes?  Do sweethearts ever even write actual letters anymore...with pens, on paper?  I hope they do, but I'm concerned that the practice is going to die out just like the dinosaurs, because my husband and I heard a news report recently saying there was a movement to stop teaching cursive to students at school.  When I hear things like that, I think perhaps I'm getting too old for the world we live in.

Anyway, there have been some treasures in my mailbox recently that I thought I'd share with you.  First of all, we have been receiving so many St. Padre Pio-related mailings as of late, most of them addressed to me rather than my husband--and you may recall that he is my patron saint for 2013 (the one randomly chosen for me using the Saints Name Generator).  My husband and I receive lots of religious items from various Catholic organizations (prayer cards and small prayer booklets, holy cards with pictures of saints on them, souvenir Rosaries and saints' medals, etc.).  But I don't ever remember getting so many mailings so close together with information about and small gifts from St. Padre Pio. I am taking this as a sign that my patron is trying to get in touch with me, and when I open up his missives I am almost as excited about them as the lovesick young college girl who ran to P.O. box #981 to look for letters from her boyfriend.
Also, yesterday I received a beautiful hand-crafted Rosary in the mail, a prize I won from a giveaway contest over at a blog I follow called These Little Blessings.  Along with the Rosary she'd made, my blogging friend Sarah Therese included the most lovely handwritten letter, and even her stationery--with a beautiful image of St. Joesph holding the Christ child on it--was a treat to behold.  What a wonderful surprise it was to find this kind of treasure in a pile otherwise composed of bills and junk mail!
Thank you, Sarah Therese!  A handwritten note is on its way right back at ya!

11 comments:

  1. I remember when I was at LDAC and Will sent me letters almost every day. There is something really nice about a hand written letter than an email just can't replace :)

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    1. I love it that he sent you letters--there IS something so special about them! That is so sweet, Meggie! (I knew he was a keeper.)

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  2. I still love snail mail! I send hand written thank you's and I love to give and get hand written cards (I refuse to send e-cards!).

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    1. I love real cards, too. And when I get one in the mail, it's such a treat!

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  3. I forgot all about the correspondence I usually do using Facebook...boy, I guess giving it up for Lent has been sort of good for me. :)

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  4. Oh, I'm so glad it arrived safely! And what a gift this post is to me! While the giveaway was going on, I had the rosary encircling a wooden crucifix in my room and I would often glance at it -- Him and the rosary -- hoping that I might be graced with the blessing of seeing a picture of the rosary on the winner's blog. Thank you for this gift! God bless you! ... and I will be keeping an eye out for a treasure in the midst of bills and junk ;-)

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  5. I had great intentions to snail mail my college girl, I was inspired by the letters my grandmother wrote to me, I even wrote a post about the 'Lost Art of Letter Writing',
    http://sevenlittleaustralians.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/lost-art-of-letter-writing.html
    alas I haven't yet written a year later, I really, really must!

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    1. My correspondence with my college boys has been almost exclusively via e-mails, too, Erin (or texts). But when our oldest left home, we made a rule: there had to be an actual phone call a minimum of once a week--so the boys made it a habit to call us every Sunday.

      I bemoan the lost art of letter writing, yet I don't write letters very often anymore...I really must work on this, too!

      I just read your post (and the link to the one about your Nanna), and I enjoyed them so much.

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    2. Laura
      We talk to ours at least once a week, sometimes more:) skype is a lovely medium too, helps our littlest particularly to see his sister.
      thank you for your kind words about my posts. always miss my Nanna more at this time of the year.'

      btw are you on pinterest? I'm
      http://pinterest.com/erin72/

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    3. Oh my gosh, I don't know what we'd do without Skype! We lived for Skype when our son was deployed, and these days it's such a great way for keeping in touch with our granddaughters. My daughter-in-law told me that recently they asked the twins, "Do you want to talk to Papa and Grammy?" and they went right over to the computer and started patting it. :)

      I'm not on Pinterest, though I have a niece who's trying to get me on!

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