Wednesday, January 07, 2009

January 7

I used to write a lot of letters. As a child I had penpals. I spent a year in England in my teens and kept in constant contact via mail with my best friend in Australia. My sister has shoeboxes of my letters written as a young mother. Even just a few years ago, I wrote long illustrated tomes to my daughter. What happened?

I still keep in touch. I send birthday and Christmas cards to friends, family, even my Grade 6 teacher (who, ironically, wrote back last week saying how nice it was to receive my cards but she would love to HEAR ABOUT MY LIFE.) That's just it ... I don't seem to share so much anymore. Am I just less voluble, or maybe less self-absorbed? I somehow can't summon the desire to share the minutiae of my life in a letter. I prefer the ten-words-or-less snappy immediacy of a Facebook status.

Kinda sad in a way. I used to feel like I was defending one of snail mail's last bastions. But I seem to have abandoned the post.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Deborah

How true this is! Is your 6th grade teacher Pauline Greig? You should direct her to your blog, which I LOVE (on each occasional visit!). Must go and write a few letters to three unbcles we spent time with in Perth last week.

Your old best friend, Louise

Hashi said...

Louise! How nice to see you here, old best friend. Yes indeed, it was Pauline Greig I meant.