thoughtfulness
I got home last night and started working on the poster of photos for my mom’s party, sitting on the floor in my kitchen (it has the most space). I have one of her senior pictures from high school that I found in a bin at home... I turned it over to stick stickiness on it to adhere it to the board and found writing. The photo was given to her mother, my grandmother who passed away in March. And it was this overly emotional, serious, forgiving message from my mother to her mother. OH man I started sobbing, sitting on the floor of my kitchen doing arts and crafts.
Landon:
Oh man, that’s a pretty intense story. It’s very hard not to get all emotional about those memories.
I found a box of letters (yep, actual hand written letters) not too long ago and these emotions really overwhelmed me that night. So many mixed feelings when reading them… like I’m happy that I kept them but at the same time I felt this overwhelming sense of sadness. Most of these letters are from college (email/internet) wasn’t really widely used quite yet) and there’s always something to actual hand written words directed to you or a loved one. Some of these people just sort of disappeared from my life which makes it all the more emotional. The things that people physically write down to another person is something that I miss a lot.
Michelle:
I love hand written letters- something special about receiving them knowing the person picked out a car, a pen, and sat down took time to compose thoughts and write you a note where they can’t hit backspace or spell check.
I love notes! I love writing them and I love getting them
I esp. like finding them later! Remembering who you were when it was written and sometimes it was written to a different person than you are now.
Me:
When I first moved into an apartment, as a second semester freshman, and after going through some traumatizing events, I thrived on letters and cards both received and sent. My sister in particular writes amazingly thoughtful notes that click with thoughts I’m often having and, which bring out a thoughtfulness in myself that I sometimes forget I have.
I still get letters from some of the kids I trained at the barn before I worked here. They are the sweetest things I think I’ve ever received in the mail.
I also sometimes send post cards to people who are not far away, my brother or my mom, just to say, “Hey, thinking of you, and here’s some mail that’s not junk and isn’t a bill.”
I have two folders in my filing bin at home dedicated to cards, letters, and notes I’ve received over the years, and even for some emails that were just so good I had to print them out.
I think it goes without saying that previous generations had a more intimate way of communicating and that while technological progress can be helpful in many ways, it hinders personal contact that can have a deep, lasting affect on how people grow up and how they learn to communicate effectively.
Landon:
Yeah! That’s the thing- I was definitely a different person (I would hope) than when I was 18, 19, 20... it was weird reading about all of these experiences I had with certain people. One letter was talking about how one of those “staying up all night talking in my dorm room” experiences and it really brought out all these emotions in me. The letter was like sixteen pages long! The weird part is that I only knew this person for probably only a few months (they transferred to another school and disappeared) and you always wonder why they disappear. It would have been so perfect and made sense to keep people like that in your life. But the only remnant of that person is this letter with their chaotic handwriting and maybe the scent of their room.
***
As you can imagine, it goes on and on, but I will not put it all down here as I don't think anyone needs further explanation of the joy of thoughtfulness.
Landon:
Oh man, that’s a pretty intense story. It’s very hard not to get all emotional about those memories.
I found a box of letters (yep, actual hand written letters) not too long ago and these emotions really overwhelmed me that night. So many mixed feelings when reading them… like I’m happy that I kept them but at the same time I felt this overwhelming sense of sadness. Most of these letters are from college (email/internet) wasn’t really widely used quite yet) and there’s always something to actual hand written words directed to you or a loved one. Some of these people just sort of disappeared from my life which makes it all the more emotional. The things that people physically write down to another person is something that I miss a lot.
Michelle:
I love hand written letters- something special about receiving them knowing the person picked out a car, a pen, and sat down took time to compose thoughts and write you a note where they can’t hit backspace or spell check.
I love notes! I love writing them and I love getting them
I esp. like finding them later! Remembering who you were when it was written and sometimes it was written to a different person than you are now.
Me:
When I first moved into an apartment, as a second semester freshman, and after going through some traumatizing events, I thrived on letters and cards both received and sent. My sister in particular writes amazingly thoughtful notes that click with thoughts I’m often having and, which bring out a thoughtfulness in myself that I sometimes forget I have.
I still get letters from some of the kids I trained at the barn before I worked here. They are the sweetest things I think I’ve ever received in the mail.
I also sometimes send post cards to people who are not far away, my brother or my mom, just to say, “Hey, thinking of you, and here’s some mail that’s not junk and isn’t a bill.”
I have two folders in my filing bin at home dedicated to cards, letters, and notes I’ve received over the years, and even for some emails that were just so good I had to print them out.
I think it goes without saying that previous generations had a more intimate way of communicating and that while technological progress can be helpful in many ways, it hinders personal contact that can have a deep, lasting affect on how people grow up and how they learn to communicate effectively.
Landon:
Yeah! That’s the thing- I was definitely a different person (I would hope) than when I was 18, 19, 20... it was weird reading about all of these experiences I had with certain people. One letter was talking about how one of those “staying up all night talking in my dorm room” experiences and it really brought out all these emotions in me. The letter was like sixteen pages long! The weird part is that I only knew this person for probably only a few months (they transferred to another school and disappeared) and you always wonder why they disappear. It would have been so perfect and made sense to keep people like that in your life. But the only remnant of that person is this letter with their chaotic handwriting and maybe the scent of their room.
***
As you can imagine, it goes on and on, but I will not put it all down here as I don't think anyone needs further explanation of the joy of thoughtfulness.