The Lasting Word

I’d be lying if I didn’t say computers have made my job, as a writer, far easier. To be able to back space and delete, copy and paste, save in various places… Well, you just can’t beat it. 

But there are drawbacks to the computer-written word, or, more specifically, the computer-written email as opposed to a good old fashioned letter. Letters, you tend to save. Emails you tend to save for a few weeks and then delete. You just do. And the story behind a yellowed letter that’s been unfolded and folded time and time again? Not really one that can be replicated with an email.

Which got me thinking. About letters I’ve written and letters I’ve received over the years. The saving kind of letters.

One I sent? That would be a thank you letter to my history teacher on the day of graduation from high school. Mr. Filo was the Dean of Discipline and thus, not always a favorite among the students (at least the ones who saw him on a frequent basis). Mr. Filo also taught a senior level history class. Prior to his class, I despised history. Mainly because we seemed to learn the same stuff year after year, always stopping around World War I…as if nothing important happened after that. But Mr. Filo? He asked us what we wanted to learn. And then he taught it. Not from a book. But by making it come alive through his words. He made a difference for me that year and I wanted him to know that. So I wrote him a letter. A real letter. Mr. Filo died two weeks later. To this day, I’m glad I took the time to sit down and say, “thank you.”

One I received? There’s been lots. From my kids, from the girl scouts I led for eight years, from friends… They’re all treasured. And saved. Why? Because someone took the time to let me know I mattered.

So how about you? Any letters you’ve written and/or received that stand out as keepers?

~Elizabeth

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