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Post by scrappintoee on Aug 10, 2018 5:53:45 GMT
I was just remembering my sweet Grandma who died a few years ago. We still wrote letters to each other, and I enjoyed it. Whenever family or friends moved away, letters were such a treat and kept us all bonded. When my closest friends went away to college, they said they looked forward to my letters and the silly cartoons I'd draw and how it eased their homesickness--(that obviously made my heart happy).
When my brother was deployed in Korea and Saudi Arabia (this was also before e-mail), he appreciated letters SO much! (And the home made goodies and/or store-bought treats---but that's a different topic). But even with the technology we have now, I suppose military peeps still receive and send letters, since internet access is either very limited/ not available/ very expensive, etc ?
All that to say, if my brother were deployed now, I'd still send him actual letters. Same with my Grandma ( she was not interested in getting a computer). How about you?
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,765
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Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Aug 10, 2018 6:07:32 GMT
My Grandmother was my last real penpal, too. I started writing her as a child. I swear many/most in my childhood started with the same, "Dear Grandma, How are you? I am fine." and off from there. Lol
Awww, now I miss that. And her, of course. She died in 2015 just shy of 99.
So I haven't really written a letter in years.
Maybe now that DD has her own apartment, I should write her. And start it off with the same words.😄 She would freak. And then love it. I think.
On my list of things to do. Lol
Eta. I think I will write the first letter on that lined elementary school paper!
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Post by ntsf on Aug 10, 2018 6:48:28 GMT
I was traveling in europe and sent postcards to many kids.. they all loved them!!
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Post by nlwilkins on Aug 10, 2018 7:56:33 GMT
I write four letters every week. There are some people I send cards to each week and I include a letter with the card. I don't get letters back, as these cards and letters are meant to cheer the people up and not add stress to their life. But, I really enjoy writing the letters. I try to make them fun to read and try not to get too personal. I might mention chores that I got done and make a joke about it or perhaps tell a story about them.
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marimoose
Pearl Clutcher
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Jul 22, 2014 2:10:14 GMT
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Post by marimoose on Aug 10, 2018 7:57:07 GMT
Yes but not as often as I should. I send cards with letters to my 91yo Aunt and I get so excited when I get a note back . I really only write my Dad on his birthday or Christmas - we do all our chatting via the phone which also sees to be an outdated thing too.
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tuesdaysgone
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Jun 26, 2014 18:26:03 GMT
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Post by tuesdaysgone on Aug 10, 2018 9:50:46 GMT
I try to keep this now nearly antiquated tradition alive. I make cards and always included a short letter inside. Many family and friends tell me it's the only letter they get in a year. Letter writing is an art. I often find it difficult to know what to say!
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 10, 2018 9:57:49 GMT
I write letters to my out of state aunt, a few times a year. I have since I was a teen. I like to include photos of the family because no one else sends them.
I occasionally send letters to my brother, but if he reads them, I have no idea.
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Post by Patter on Aug 10, 2018 10:16:55 GMT
Yes, God always puts people on my heart that I need to write and encourage. I don't get anything back, and it's not what I want or expect. It's about encouraging others. The beginning of this year, I wrote 9 officers at the Academy weekly while they were there. Once they graduated, it has been various people, nieces, nephews, church friends that need encouragement, etc. It blesses me to encourage others.
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Post by myboysnme on Aug 10, 2018 10:55:07 GMT
My goddaughter is in basic training and I wrote her twice because mail is everything in basic.
Honestly, that's about it, although I have saved many letters from my grandparents and mother. Just having their handwriting is so wonderful.
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Post by lisae on Aug 10, 2018 11:24:22 GMT
I have a pen pal that I met on the old 2P's board. We wrote each other about 4 times a year at first, now it is only once or twice a year. I miss the letters. I 'write' by typing them on the computer though because handwriting hurts my hands and my handwriting can get hard to read. Penmanship, unfortunately, was not something where I ever excelled.
I had a couple of wonderful English friends who I wrote to but sadly they have passed away. I loved getting those blue letters in the mail.
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Post by pierkiss on Aug 10, 2018 11:45:03 GMT
I haven’t written letters since my last grandma died and I married my husband. My husband and I had a long distance relationship for 3 of the years that we dated/we’re engaged (not continuous). We used to write letters to each other all the time. I have all of them. 😁❤️
My 8 year old daughter and her 9 year old cousin are pen pals. It’s adorable. They draw each other little pictures and tell silly jokes in their letters.
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AmandaA
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Post by AmandaA on Aug 10, 2018 12:37:17 GMT
Yes, there is one older woman I exchange letters with whom I have never met. Several years ago DH rented her farm here (she is retired out west now) and neither of us have ever met her in person, only spoken via phone. I always send a hand written letter with her rent checks, contracts, etc. and always am sure to send her a Christmas card. She always does the same, either a typed card or a cursive note that reminds me of my late grandmother’s handwriting. I always have to “translate” her cursive for DH since he can’t decipher most of it, but it looks just like my grandmother’s did. And I think the small note cards that she so carefully puts through her typewriter on occasion are just as fun. I love telling her about what has been going on here with the farm, the weather/growing season, and the kids around the farm.
One of the first letters I sent her was actually a handmade card from one of my favorite Studio Calico card kits. The papers looked like vintage library cards and there was a stamp of librarian looking eyeglasses. They made the cutest cards and I will never forget her responding to that card. She is one of the few people who has ever specifically been appreciative of my little craft and told me a story about how that card reminded her of her childhood trips to the library with her mother. Neither DH or I have any grandparents still living and our own parents tend to text us to keep in touch 🙄, so I cherish these little letters Marty and I send back and forth.
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Post by GamGam on Aug 10, 2018 12:41:23 GMT
I have written 10 letters in the past 2 weeks. My DGD and DGS are at summer camp. I always include riddles and jokes and a scripture verse from The Psalms. Much to my delight, my DDG wrote me back thanking me for all the letters.❤️❤️❤️ No response from DGS, but it’s 👌. I know he appreciates it because he keeps the letters till next year’s camp.
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Anita
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Jun 27, 2014 2:38:58 GMT
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Post by Anita on Aug 10, 2018 13:33:40 GMT
My mother and I still write letters to each other. She's in a care facility and has no phone, so letters are a must.
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Post by workingclassdog on Aug 10, 2018 13:49:43 GMT
I wrote 2 or 3 letters a week when my two older kids were in boot camp... of course that was basically the only form of communication... They wrote back but not as much, but they did. That was a few years ago. Other than my BFF and I write occasionally to each other, no, I don't really write to anyone other than her.
I have a box of letters from her that we pull out once and awhile and read back... late teens, early 20s... they are hysterical. I haven't seen my letters to her though.. I don't know if she even has them or in her attic....
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Post by mom on Aug 10, 2018 13:52:07 GMT
I mainly only write thank you notes but now that DS1 is moving out, I plan on writing him (maybe 2x a month?) and sending cards.
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Post by buddysmom on Aug 10, 2018 14:23:48 GMT
No but DD and I send postcards to each other on vacation. She has mine displayed in her "travel room/office."
Mine are very brief.
She writes a story about how cool the place is, etc etc and her handwriting gets tinier and tinier toward the end to fit all of her epic story in. Love it!
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iluvpink
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Jul 13, 2014 12:40:31 GMT
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Post by iluvpink on Aug 10, 2018 15:46:05 GMT
I haven't written a letter since I as in my teens/early twenties. I was never much of a letter writer and most of my family lived nearby.
DD 18 does however write short letters. She belongs to some chronic illness groups online and sometimes they send presents and notes to one another. Not long letters usually but short notes and such in cards. But I have seen a few letters. Dd enjoys it. She also prefers to real physical books. Her Nook died a few years ago and she didn't want a new e-reader. Actual books are her thing. I love actual books too but most of the time use my Kindle these days.
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IAmUnoriginal
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Jun 25, 2014 23:27:45 GMT
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Post by IAmUnoriginal on Aug 10, 2018 15:55:55 GMT
My grandma was my last real penpal, too. She passed February 2007. She loved getting letters, but complained that they just don't teach proper penmanship anymore. She had gorgeous handwriting. Mine isn't awful but it's definitely not what hers was.
I did write letters to my brother in bootcamp and both times that he's deployed. We emailed during deployment, too, but his connection was always sketchy. He liked the letters because I'd tuck in photos or draw him one of my terrible sketches to explain something. He could tuck them in a pocket and read them while out on patrol.
I don't see myself picking up a pen to write a letter again unless he should deploy some time in the future. I know my kid wouldn't write back. I had to teach him how to address an envelope when he wrote his graduation thank you notes.
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Post by papersilly on Aug 10, 2018 16:45:22 GMT
i don't write paper letters anymore but the closes thing to that are email "letters" that a fellow Pea and I send to each other pretty regularly to catch up with each other's lives.
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kate
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Jun 26, 2014 3:30:05 GMT
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Post by kate on Aug 10, 2018 16:49:25 GMT
My bestie from childhood lives several states away. She is amazing about writing letters. I'm crummy at it, but I do my best. I do short letters in thank you/birthday/etc. cards, as well. I love getting GOOD mail, so I figure others might enjoy it, too.
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Post by scrappintoee on Aug 14, 2018 13:23:34 GMT
I loved reading everyones' stories It is SO cool that many of you still write to people! Besides all the wonderful memories in the letters and cards I've saved, I LOVE seeing peoples' handwriting, especially people I loved that are no longer alive. (My younger brother, Mom, step-sister that, and all my Grandparents ). I especially cherish a HILARIOUS card my brother made me years ago---it was the only time he made a card for me, and wow---I can't express in words how much I love it !!!) I used to regularly send encouraging notes and cards to our deployed military personnel (especially at Christmas); I really need to do that again! I still marvel at the sweetest soldier who sent me a thank you card for the Christmas card I sent him----it was SO sweet of him, and not expected by me, obviously! It makes you realize HOW MUCH getting mail means to them!!! I have a box of letters from her that we pull out once and awhile and read back... late teens, early 20s... they are hysterical. I haven't seen my letters to her though.. I don't know if she even has them or in her attic.... Aren't they ?!?! I not only saved TONS of letters and cards, but also, the silly little notes my friends and I exchanged through the day in 8th, 9th, and 10th grade. ----almost every note had the same theme...."are you MAD at me?" and we'd write about boy(s) we had crushes on. I need to ask my friends if they kept any of my notes, cards, and letters from the time I moved away in 11th grade and into the college years. I am SO glad I kept theirs!
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Post by scrappintoee on Aug 14, 2018 13:25:04 GMT
Maybe now that DD has her own apartment, I should write her. And start it off with the same words.😄 She would freak. And then love it. I think. On my list of things to do. Lol Eta. I think I will write the first letter on that lined elementary school paper![/b] That is SO cute !!!
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Post by PolarGreen12 on Aug 14, 2018 13:36:15 GMT
My cousin L and I still write letters to each other. We've been doing it since we were around 10. When we were young our grandmothers started getting us together in the summers. She lives in Colorado, so she would come stay with me and my parents. Sometimes she would be with us for just a few weeks, other times the whole summer. The Grandmothers would sign us up for camps and activities. Theyd take us on some little trips like a weekend in Branson or Dallas. My parents had a lake house, so lots of weekends on the boat and swimming from the dock. I seriously had the best summers growing up. And L and I are extremely close thanks to our Grandmothers. Then during the year we would write to keep in touch. We are in out late 30s now and even with technology we still write letters. Not weekly like when we were young, but several times throughout the year. I've even started writing some to her daughter who is now 12. Somewhere I have a huge box of a lot of the letters she sent me.
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Post by scrappintoee on Aug 14, 2018 14:19:25 GMT
PolarGreen12 ----I LOVE that you two still write to each other, and you write to her daughter, too !!! This thread is inspiring me to (possibly) write an actual letter to some of my nearest and dearest! Especially to my best friends since 8 th grade, who always loved getting my letters when they were homesick at college. I might add some of my silly drawings, too---just like the good ole' days! The first time I saw this meme, I LOVED it because this is EXACTLY how my friends and I folded our TOP SECRET notes that we passed in junior high and high school. We also used CODE NAMES so no one would know who we were if they found 'em!
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Post by Linda on Aug 14, 2018 14:29:48 GMT
I write roughly weekly to my mum, my DS (in Japan with the Navy), my 'aunt' (mum's Bestie), and a shut-in friend of my mum's who was a co-worker of mine 30 some years ago. My 'aunt' occasionally writes back - the others don't.
I write more occasionally to a former GS friend who moved away last summer, a refupea, my sister, and my best friend.
I write (individual) Christmas letters to my other sister, a couple of different cousins (one is my mum's 1st cousin, the other is the grandson of my grandfather's first cousin) and in reply to any Christmas notes/letters I receive.
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Post by scrappintoee on Aug 14, 2018 14:35:15 GMT
linda ....WOW, it's so cool that you write to so many people!
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Post by PolarGreen12 on Aug 14, 2018 15:02:54 GMT
That meme brings back all kinds of middle school and high school memories scrappintoee ! One of my best friends and I use to pass a spiral back and forth and write letters on the pages without tearing them out. At the end of 8th grade we have 4 full spirals, so one of us kept half and the other the other half.
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Post by Patter on Aug 14, 2018 16:04:37 GMT
scrappintoee, I also cherish handwriting of those that have passed. That is one reason I always handwrite things though I despise my handwriting. I know what it will mean to my girls someday thus I do it.
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Post by Linda on Aug 14, 2018 17:15:56 GMT
linda ....WOW, it's so cool that you write to so many people! Thank you - my letters aren't very interesting, I'm sure, but I know how much I treasure a note or postcard or letter in the mail mixed in among the bills and adverts so I try and put a smile on other people's faces when they check their mail.
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