When was the last time you received a personal letter that was not sent by email, but by regular mail? What kind of attitude did you get when you got a cute letter or handwritten note out of the pile of bills that sometimes become everyday accessories for your mailbox? After retrieving a huge box filled with assorted high school and college items from my mother’s house, I found at the bottom, a smaller box containing letters previously written to me by some of my old friends. There must have been fifty cards in this box before he threw them away. I couldn’t resist this last chance to read each one of them again. After about an hour of non-stop reading, I made myself a cup of hot tea and sat down to continue my “back down memory lane” journey. I remember rewriting most of my letters, especially if I made a spelling mistake or my sentence structure wasn’t how I wanted it to be. Judging by the amount of paper I wasted editing, you’d think I was mailing them to a major book publisher instead of a friend!

Letter writing created a manifestation of memories that bridged the distance between sender and recipient. People were as meticulous in choosing decorative stationery to write their letters as the letter itself. This connection through written communication promoted conversational exchange, creativity, and artistic expression.

The standard format that I followed almost every time I wrote a letter to my friends, out-of-town immediate family, ex-boyfriends, or occasionally some of my favorite professors, consisted of the following basic elements:

1. The Header (Name and Address)

2. Date

3. The Greeting (Dear So-and-so)

4. The Body (The message you are writing to the recipient)

5. Closing (Sincerely, Sincerely)

6. Your signature

7. Post-script (There is an occasional comment not mentioned in the body of your letter, but made after signing, called PS or PSS The PSS was an additional post-script.)

Sometimes, on the back flap of the envelope, the writer would put a smiley face or an acronym like SWAK (Sealed With A Kiss) indicating a love letter was enclosed.

Calligraphy in elementary school was extremely important years ago. It came as a surprise to me and some of my parenting friends that cursive writing is no longer taught in most schools. Therefore, the meticulousness and pride one takes in one’s penmanship is not as evident today as it was when I was a child. But a personalized letter or note makes you stop, sit down, read, and appreciate the thought behind the folded message. The custom lyrics displayed have a unique voice, taste and style. It showed that a lot of thought, even if it wasn’t especially nice, went into the written expression.

So why not do something out of the ordinary and make someone smile today by writing them a personalized letter instead of an email? The memories will be worth the effort, especially if the person is miles away. He’ll get a lot of satisfaction from simply taking a few minutes to write a sweet personal message, whether it’s on pretty stationery or not. That would be a special gift and a welcome relief for someone to receive it in the mailbox amid the endless bills.