Paper and Ink

The picture above is a letter that I pulled out of my mailbox today. This letter may not mean anything to you, but for my 10 year old daughter, this will make her day! This is a hand written letter from her 92 year old great grandfather (my grandfather) who lives in Texas. My daughter has only met him a handful of times, but several months ago they started writing back and forth to each other. They have this sweet relationship through mail… pen and paper mail.

As long as I can remember my grandfather has communicated with handwritten mail. You always knew his letters as soon as you opened the box by his all-caps print handwriting. My grandfather is not a “writer” per say. He never really writes very long, his notes are short and to the point.

Although short, my grandfather uses his paper and ink effectively. To this day you can walk into his room where his big desk is and see a stack of handwritten letters. He writes back and forth with a number of prisoners and has a pen pal relationship with them. In these letters, he shares the Gospel, wisdom from Scripture, and usually tears out an article or a page from a devotional and puts it in with the letters. One day a week my grandfather goes to the prayer house at their church where volunteers pray over prayer requests. There he prays and then writes a handwritten note to the person to let them know he has been praying. His letters are making a difference in the lives of people. I can’t begin to imagine how many hundreds of people have been the recipients of and all-caps letter from my Pop.

This letter that arrived today reminded me of the connections that are made with paper and ink. Texting and emailing has replaced the use of stationary and stamps. It’s quick and requires little effort and can still be effective. However, this letter reminds me of how special it is when someone takes a minute to write something personal to you, address an envelope, add postage, and then see to it that it gets in the mail. Unfortunately, it’s a lost art. I am aware that you can say the exact same thing in an email, but opening an inbox is not the same as opening a mailbox.

My grandmother made a big deal of writing handwritten thank you notes. She stressed how important it is to write a personal note when someone has done something kind for you and it is something that has always stuck with me. She told me that you address the person, you thank them for the gift or whatever they have done, then you tell them something about it and why you like it or what it means to you. Then of course you close your note or letter and sign it. It is a simple thing and a sweet gesture to the other person that you thought enough about them to write.

My other grandfather was a printer his entire life. It was from him that I learned to love stationery. It started because he would let me design my own personal stationery and then print it for me in his print shop. It wasn’t common for little girls to have personalized stationery, so it motivated me to write letters to friends and family. He was also a letter writer himself. His letters often included a silly poem he had written, a letter to the dog, or a letter written on a giant piece of paper from his print shop. Emails come and go, but those letters I still remember.

My daughter has found a love for letter writing through writing her great grandfather. She has carried it over and often writes notes to us and our other children. She very thoughtfully wrote all of her siblings a letter for the first day of school and left them at their doors. I love how this one ends to her brother, “be the man.” 🙂

Most of us probably don’t even have stationary in our homes. I want to encourage you to get some and use it. Take a few extra minutes to let someone you know you are thinking of them and think so much of them, you would use paper and pen. Encourage your children to do the same. I used to be diligent about our children writing thank you notes after Christmas or birthdays and I have slacked off! I want them to show that if they are thankful, simple note is an easy way to show it. Find stationary that you love or order some that is personalized or get some nice pens. Get what you need to be excited about writing.

Who can you write today? Who needs the surprise of a handwritten note in their mailbox? You have the power in your pen to make a difference.