My Nana and I have a long-standing penmanship. We have been writing letters to each other for years…probably since I first moved out of home. It is truly delightful. It is one of the pure, simple enchantments in my life that without fail always guarantees to put a smile on my face and a warm glow in my heart.
We don’t have a set time frame for writing, it is impromptu and random, each letter that arrives unexpected making this old fashioned news exchange all the more richer with love and grander in gesture. The biggest treat when receiving a Nana penned letter is the mystery of deciphering the old fashioned handwriting style so rare these days. It is like an adventure novel, with cryptic symbols, each a clue to the words contained and the message within. I’ve become quite good at reading them now, but sometimes I need to recruit Damian to solve the mystery of the written words and we uncover the message together, sharing in the joy like pirates over treasure.
I do miss one thing in these letters – those few lines from Grandad that are no longer there, always signing off with effortless cool ‘Love Gdad’, like a famous rap star.
What happened to handwritten letters anyway? Lost in the vortex of technology. I miss my own nice handwriting. Remnants remain, but all those countless years of learning to trace letters and mastering cursive flourishes has slipped almost out of my grasp. Instead I look adorningly at my mother’s writing, so flowing and floaty, dreamy and ordered, used and alive on a regular basis. Morris has song books, nursery rhymes handwritten with love, such treasures.
If you have the time, gather a pen and any old scratch of paper, and write a letter to someone you love. I guarantee you it will warm your soul and put a smile on the face of the receiver.
Do you hand write letters to anyone?