The Importance of a Simple Physical Card

“Do you have anything from your dad?” someone recently asked me.

A simple question  asked of me about a dad that died when I was very young.

A simple question that has stirred up  the passion I have for handwritten letters, journals, pictures and handmade cards .

The answer is yes. I have one treasured,  time worn Christmas card, a short, dog eared,  hand written letter and a couple of faded pictures. They have been tenderly touched, viewed  and read over and over down through the years.  At times, they rested in small hands as I fell asleep wondering what it would have been like had he not died so young.   As a child, they were the much needed connection to a daddy I never got to know.  He signed the card and letter “Love Daddy” so, to me,  they were proof that he did think of me and cared for me before he died.  They are very small, seemingly unimportant items that were  very large and  important in my life and I am so grateful that I had them.

I understand the convenience and  usefulness in all the electronic communication we have today.  I obviously use it myself. But I wonder if I would have had anything tangible of his if he could have emailed me or sent a text?  I doubt it.  So if I had to choose between the two,
without hesitation electronic communication would be trashed and I would choose  hand written words on old fashion paper.

In the out dated and dying art of actual hand writing you  can see so much more in it than in something that is typed.  You  see the  creative loops and swirls of a persons personality being displayed on the  paper. You see the intensity of the writing caused by the pressure that was applied to the pen or pencil as a person struggled to convey the emotions held within. Maybe there are simple hearts that dot all the  i’s  or a large exclamation point with many accent marks drawn around it that shows extreme excitement. Maybe falling tears mark the page  as the author pours out their heart with difficult and painful words.  Maybe a red impression made by the writers lips that sealed the envelope remains visible or the sweet scent of a favorite perfume  clings to the paper that is sent  across the miles to a far away love.  All of these are special touches that are lost in emailing and texting when everyone uses the same smily faces or emotion icons.  It’s just not the same.

Cards, if not handmade, were once very carefully chosen for the images and words but then more personal words were added to complete the sentiment.  Poems were penned and hand drawn art was often added to  impart the passion felt by the sender.

Within the letter or card history was written and preserved as loved ones described fear or courage on a battlefield, loneliness within a jail cell. the loss of someone close, the joy in the birth of a child, deception or devious plans being made, the description of a baptism, a wedding or the purchase of a home where a  new life was to begin.  All these things and countless other memories were mailed back and forth to family or friends every day.   People watched for the postman with a hunger and need that is rarely experienced today. Each card or  letter  was touched, smelled, read and cherished as a special memory of the loved one that sent it. Many would be carefully   placed  in a old shoe box or drawer to be pulled out later and reread over again many times. Some rested temporarily only to be dug up years later like a buried treasure that unearthed forgotten memories to be relived again.

I find it  a sad thing that almost all communication is now done electronically.  I find it sad that typed or texted messages are replacing the cards and letters of the past and that the art of communication is being lost. I think it is  a sad thing that 100’s of pictures are being taken and carefully stored digitally but never added to a physical family album.  For certain it is a  sad thought that  the hands of a lonely child who needs to know that her daddy loved her  may  remain empty in the future because he sent a text instead of a handwritten card.