Will your child someday ask, “What’s snail mail?”

Did you know April is National Card and Letter Writing Month? When is the last time you mailed a handwritten letter to someone? Recently? Last year? Never?

Your answer to that question may very well depend on your age or generation. The older generation, who recall when typewriters were a thing and computers were not the norm in a household, would remember letter writing as a way to communicate, while the current generation of young adults barely use phone calls to converse, much less write a letter. Their form of communication has been texting or messaging for as long as they can remember. In fact, if I had to guess, I doubt either of my boys, on their own, have used even half a book of stamps between the two of them their whole lives.

This reminds me of a comedian we saw recently while visiting the Brad Garrett Comedy Club in Vegas. Collin Moulton had some great humor about aging parents and the huge generation gap between kids and grandparents. One subject that brought tears to my eyes was when he joked about a grandfather having to explain to a young one what writing and sending letters was all about. This video will give you an idea of what I’m talking about [disclaimer, he picks on the USPS a bit in this video]. All joking aside, it isn’t an easy task to ask young adults or children to write a letter. The concept is extremely foreign to them. If you’re a parent with kids, you’ll know this or understand when the time comes to inform your son or daughter they need to write thank you notes for gifts or money received after their high school graduation. The question I got was, “What do I say?”

I can’t recall the last letter I wrote but I’ll admit it’s been quite awhile – I had a great aunt who lovedsending and receiving cards and letters (plus she never owned a computer or used email), so she and I continued to write to each other for years until she passed away a number of years ago. I’m thankful we shared the experience because the notes and cards I received from her are now keepsakes and will always hold special memories for me.

My aunt and I wrote back and forth because we both enjoyed the process of writing and receiving cards and letters. During other time periods when I’ve written to family and friends for any length of time, the reason has always been due to distance or because there was no other way to communicate. One example is when my brother was in the service or when he was out of the country and gone for months at a time on missionary trips. Email was not always an option given whatever location he might be in. Another stint in letter writing was when a friend of mine was in prison for about a year. I couldn’t visit her at the prison, so it was the only way we communicated until her release. When I was in middle school, my best friend in the world at that time moved out of the state and I was devastated. As devastated as you can imagine a 13 or 14 year old might be. We wrote from that point and all through high school, almost religiously, and even a bit beyond I believe. Those types of letters are precious and likely the most honest truth about our young lives beyond whatever we wrote in our own journals.

Having a month dedicated to sending cards or letters has made me pause and think…I miss writing letters. I miss having a reason to write and sharing the love of writing letters with another person.

Do we need a reason to send a card or write a letter? No. We can send one, just because we want to.

Does someone have to live states away or even in another country to deserve a card or written letter? No. we can send one, just because we want to.

But the way our lives move on at such a fast rate of speed, we don’t tend to find the time to sit and write a letter or a cute note in a card to someone special. Especially when it’s just as easy to pick up the phone, send a text or stalk them on Facebook.

So for me, because I have more stationary and cards than I need (I’m sure I’ve mentioned it…I’m a stationary/paper/journal addict), I plan to use this month as an excuse to get back into snail mail. Some challenges I’ve seen involve sending a card or a letter every day – that’s too much for me. So my challenge to myself is to pick at least two friends or family members each week and send them either a card or a letter. Even if they don’t reciprocate with a card or letter of their own, that’s okay, as that won’t be the point of the challenge. What I’ll enjoy is the fact that they’ll smile in surprise when they realize there’s something in their mailbox between the bills and the junk mail.

If I can make a loved one smile at the sight of something as simple as a note card or letter in their mailbox, that idea alone will brighten my day and is the only reason I need to take on the challenge.

How about you?

Is there someone you know who would smile at the sight of a card or a letter from you in their mailbox?

Even something short & sweet?

I’m betting there might be… J