I had a phone conversation with a cashier the other day. In the midst of her telling me a story about her daughter and her grandkids, she asked me if I had any kids, myself. I told her no, but that I was getting married this December. The minute I uttered the phrase "getting married," she hoopla-ed and cheered and giggled and congratulated! I've never felt so proud! As if I accomplished something by getting engaged! And I don't even know this woman! Well, not exactly...See, I've been talking to E for months now, calling her multiple times a work week to pay off claims. Sure, sometimes when we both have time, we share bite-sized family-related anecdotes, pasting them into a collage-esque picture of each other's lives, but we've never met face-to-face! She's a 50 something year-old grandma in Washington and I'm a 25 year old fiance in Colorado! And yet, the minute she was done cooing over my "love-life succcess," she asked for my home address. At first I was a little weirded out, wondering why an old lady (don't tell my mom I said 50-something is old), though friendly and though she actually reminds me of my mother, would want my home address. She sensed my tension and proceeded to explain herself...
She said that she has a few good friends whom she's handwritten letters to for years. 3 or 4 penpals she sends a couple letters to each a month. That's nearly 100 handwritten letters a year! She said that she keeps various papers/stationery and pens the colors of the rainbow on hand for just this reason. And that she'd LOVE to send me a wedding letter. A WEDDING LETTER, PEOPLE! I'd never heard of such a thing, which explains why I yelped over the prospect of receiving one in the mail! "Heavens yes you can send me a letter!" I cried. "My home address is..."
Obviously, I have yet to receive E's letter in the mail, but I'm beside myself with anticipation! A WHOLE LETTER! JUST FOR ME! The more I think about it, the more I think it's the handwritten part that's got me excited. Though it's been awhile since I've read something handwritten (besides a thank you card or other such courtesy note), I'm remembering how intimate handwriting seemed. Gives you a glimpse into a person, no? A muddied glimpse, sure, but a knowing and telling one nonetheless.
In high school my best friends and I would write each other 1-2 page notes on looseleaf nearly every other day. We'd draw pictures on them, fold them into fancy shapes...The best thing about those notes was the fact that you could see the emotion in the handwriting (the messy and scribbled meant "I'm rushed and the bell's about to ring;" the big and bold signaled excitement; the perfectly printed meant "I've got all the time in the world to make this as pretty as possible;" etc). I could've guessed where they were when they'd written them, when they'd written them, and how they were feeling when they wrote them, just by their handwriting! Reading into all that "in between the lines" crap got to be second nature. I could've looked at a sample handwriting and told you whose it was. Those handwritten notes were gifts, I tell you! My friends gave up a lot to write them--time, energy, attention. They're a perfect symbol of giving. And up until about a year ago (when I moved for the umpteenth time), I'd kept them all in a box. I couldn't part with them! They were like pieces of my friends! Inside jokes and long-forgotten gossip preserved in our pubsecent handwriting! Just thinking about those notes again makes me nostalgic. Now tell me, can an e-mail do that? (Well, maybe :) a few of my bestest friends e-mail me every week and it's Christmas morning when I see their messages in my inbox. But that messes with my point...). Handwritten notes reveal a deeper giving--a giving of oneself to the task at hand (literally). And being on the receiving end of a handwritten note is something entirely different than simply receiving an e-mail. Holding the note in your hands, turning over the paper, fingering the bite of the inked words in the paper...that person is there with you. And it's beautiful.
Just last week I finished writing a bajillion thank you notes (more like 20, but still) to family members, thanking them for the bridal shower gifts they bought me (I've never gotten so many spatulas in my life!). Though my hand cramped up every 5 minutes, I really enjoyed handwriting them. I'm trying to think of a reason why...or rather the right words to explain why. I think I was SO grateful for my family's generosity, SO enveloped in the love that they showed me, that I couldn't imagine another way of thanking them. Which I think says it all. How does one express the truest and most heartfelt emotions? By writing them out! It's as if handwriting carries a weight with it, a credence. Our handwriting is our stand-in self, the one we entrust with relaying our most private conversations and feelings. So it's no wonder we have an entirely different experience receiving/undertaking a handwritten note! Why are we not exploiting the fantastic-ness of handwriting?! Friends, I'm going to write you letters soon! Handwritten letters! (I know, I know, I'm so good to you). And I might even try folding them into pretty little shapes :) A heart? Comin' at ya! (If I can remember....)
P.S. For those of you who've read every one of my 11 or so blog entries (I know, I know, I'm so prolific ;) ), you'll remember the one about my friend C. Guess who called me last night? Looks like a second chance at friendship, don't it? Maybe I'll write him a handwritten note, too, eh? Keep your fingers crossed...
* image from http://southpaw99.wordpress.com/
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