“Start with addressing and stamping the envelope.
‘What! Before writing the letter?’
Most certainly. And I’ll tell you what will happen if you don’t. You will go on writing till the last moment, and just in the middle of the last sentence, you will become aware that ‘time’s up!’ Then comes the hurried wind-up – the wildly-scrawled signature – the hastily-fastened envelope, which comes open in the post – the address, a mere hieroglyphic – the horrible discovery that you’ve forgotten to replenish your Stamp-Case – the frantic appeal, to everyone in the house, to lend you a stamp – the headlong rush to the Post Office, arriving, hot and gasping, just after the box has closed – and finally, a week afterwards, the return of the Letter from the Dead-Letter Office, marked ‘address illegible.’!” ~Lewis Carroll
The art of letter writing...
But alas! It is lost! And why should it be me that has stumbled and found it?
This is not only a lost art but it is a fun lost art. Enjoyable to the writer, and even more so to the reader.
How did this become lost? And what is more, who lost it? ...this is a tragedy indeed.. How is one to find it again, being so buried in the brambles? Why do we forget our 'sail mail' address? Because there simply isn't enough opportunities to use it. To write it, to speak it, to think of it. When was the last time you wrote a letter to your friend? Your sister? Your mom? Your sweetheart?
Maybe the reason you don't write letters is because no one ever replies. This... I cannot find a solution for. Except perhaps if they are inspired by this propaganda. Maybe you have never written a letter.. That is too sad a thought to even think about.. But if it is true, I wish you would! For you are missing out on a most pleasurable task.
Joe: One mystery store, Sleuth, at 78th and Amsterdam, a children’s bookstore, Shop Around The Corner. It’s been there forever. Joe’s grandfather: Cecilia store.
Joe: Who is that?
Joe’s grandfather: Cecilia Kelly, lovely woman. I think we might have had a date once. Maybe we just exchange letters.
Joe: You wrote her letters?
Joe’s grandfather: Oh, mail, that was called mail. Stamps, envelope.
Joe: You know I’ve heard of it.
Joe’s grandfather: Cecilia had beautiful penmanship. She was too young for me, but she was enchanting.
Joe: Enchanting.
~You've Got Mail (Wonderful film!)
I hope I have inspired you to write a letter today. Nothing cheers someone up like a good, old-fashioned letter.
For tips on writing a letter....
You have only to consult Emily Post on Letter Writing Etiquette.
Have a wondrous day!
♥aimee
