Bringing Back Snail Mail

For almost two months, my boyfriend has been in basic training in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Training for the National Guard, he is essentially cut off from the outside world until Christmas time. Even after New Years, he still has to go back to finish out boot camp before beginning Advanced Individual Training (or AIT).

Having only gotten two calls from him, sending letters back and forth is the only way that we have been able to communicate with each other. It seemed odd to me at first, but it has turned into something that I look forward to each and every day. I find myself going to my mailbox every day of the week in hopes of a letter from the love of my life.

If you had asked me one year ago if I would have expected to be where I am now, I probably would have said that you're crazy. I anticipated things to be so different, but I'm not so sure that I would change them.

Writing letters has proven to be so much more meaningful than sending a text message. A simple "What's up" has turned into "How is life? What have you been up to? What's new in school?" and I am not sure that I would trade that for anything.

Receiving letters from my favorite person excites me more than I ever could have imagined. While this form of communication might not be as immediate as I might like, it is so much more personal and really gives me something to look forward too.

I know that he enjoys receiving letters from me as well, and I absolutely love writing them to him and just thinking about his reactions upon opening them. ( I might be biased as a writer saying this, but I am nerdy and it is the truth.)

Although our circumstances brought us back to "snail mail," I have found myself rekindling my love for conversing via the postal system. If anything, I feel as if it has made our relationship stronger. Being able to be completely open and express emotions in such a raw manner through pen ink scribbled onto lined paper is such an honest concept. Whenever I open a letter from him, I feel like I am holding a piece of him and what he has to say.

This experience has really drawn me closer to the notion of writing to people more often. My younger sister has even asked me to write to her even though we talk via text message on a daily basis, and I am appreciative of that. I am afraid that the younger generations will lose touch with writing letters because they are so connected to the digital world.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for the technology of today and talking virtually. I just fear that letters will become a lost concept if the digital world becomes a main source of communication for everyone.

Buy a sheet of stamps. Pick up a box of envelopes and some lined paper or stationary. Take your best pen and scrawl your heart out onto the pages for those that you love. It may take a second to send a text message, but it takes a couple of business days to make someone really smile.