I have always felt that writing letters was a wondrous thing.  When I was young, I always enjoyed getting mail, as most kids do.  And I enjoyed it so much that I was happy to write back. The best thing about writing letters is that hopefully you will receive one in return.  And the ingredients that make it so pleasurable are patience and anticipation.

Everytime I wrote a letter, put it in an envelope, stamped it and mailed it, a process began.  I might receive a speedy reply, or have to endure a long wait. Regardless, the anticipation would kick in immediately and make it a lesson in patience.  Patience can only really be understood by practicing it.  Patience does not happen by accident

Waiting for a letter when I was a kid actually forced patience upon me.  And I am very glad I had that experience. One can never know the same kind of joy and appreciation if something you want comes easily.  Anticipation is what makes that special joy possible.

When I was in high school, I had a pen pal from England who was the best correspondent I had ever had.  I met him in a park in London the summer before school started. He wrote long letters, answering all my questions and telling me all about his life.  I was absolutely over the moon when I saw his letter in my mailbox. I would open it and read it slow the first time. I wanted to prolong my excitement.  Then I would read it again and again. And finally, I would write back as soon as I could, so I would be able to mail it right away. Then, the anticipation would be reset and the practice of patience would begin again.

Even though we were a continent away from each other, we both wrote back immediately and the letters would each take 10 days to 2 weeks to go back and forth, sometimes longer.  One time, a letter I sent did not receive a reply for almost 2 months. I had no idea what had happened. Did it get lost? Did he get the letter and if he did, did he write back?  Did his return letter get lost? When I finally got his reply, it began with a long apology for something that he could not have controlled. There had been a mail strike and that was the cause of the long delay.  I was so relieved and happy and excited all at once. We continued to write even after I had gotten married and had kids.

We lost contact somehow, and after unsuccessfully trying to find him through his mother’s address, I thought that something had happened to him.  And then, 38 years later, he found me on Facebook. We began to email and catch up in a more timely manner. But still, we wrote. And the joy of letter writing started again.  This time it was immediately sent and yet the anticipation remained, albeit in a shorter time frame.

I guess the point I am trying to convey, is that letter writing is more than just a conversation.  It is taking the time and care to prepare a gift of oneself to another person that they can keep. And the recipient of this gift can see the ink on the page, the stamp on the outside, the thoughts conveyed, all etched in time as a memory to be savored again sometime in the future.  When that happens, one can be transported back in time where those moments can be experienced once again. Only a letter can do this. And isn’t that awesome?