The Pen Pal Thread

I’ve always been a big letter writer. Interesting story — in second grade (early 1960s), our classroom had a letter writing contest to write letters to our sister school in another country. I won the prize for best letter and still have that prize, a little ceramic pottery squirrel.

My letter was about 4 pages long and I talked about everything under the sun, including a recent article I had read in National Geographic magazine.

There was nothing like receiving an envelope in the mail from a friend or relative with pages of news and stories. Where you couldn’t wait to sit down and reply and then wait a week or more. Kids nowadays will never get to experience that.
 
As a young teenager I had a pen pal of same age from Lancashire, England. Her name was Louise. I still have her picture somewhere. She & family were at Caravan Park somewhere. Don't remember why we stopped writing after doing so for a couple of years.
 

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My handwriting is often complimented but it's not a difficult art to master. What does give me the colloquial brain pain, is this very technology. I have a scanner, come printer, I should simply place that which needs scanning in the scanner, scan it and copy it onto the computer memory. To reproduce it and bring it up on screen is the same as selecting a photograph. I just cannot grasp the technology, yet it's something that ten-year-olds have done and forgotten, moving onto the next bit of wizardry.
How do I reproduce a handwritten piece? Photograph it.

In order to create the thick line/thin line it helps to have the broad nib, like this:
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The following letter was sent off to Royal Mail's Customer Services.

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There was a reply, typed of course. Enclosed was a leaflet with a phone number that I was asked to call.
To be fair though, Royal Mail did at least reply and the post script made me smile. It read:
"Nice handwriting."
 
We were taught italic writing at school too & had to submit all homework in it or it was rejected.
Our German teacher set up pen pals for all of us in her class with a school in Germany. Then in the fifth form we did an exchange. They came to stay with us for a month & then we went to stay with them for a month in their homes. We had to attend school there, the English classes were a doddle 😂
I was a bit taken aback though on first arriving in my pen pals house when grandad greeted me by standing to attention, raising his arm & shouting Heil Hitler.
 
I've always loved writing but never knew many people who did. I've mostly gotten a few invitations and a special letter here and there. I became computer-literate in the mid-80s and you know the story...email. I got a smartphone a few years ago and you know the story...texting. I eventually got on FBook and you know the story...messaging. Ecards have become a thing too.

I've seen pen pal groups around the Net but have never joined. There is a longing but I think it is somewhat romanticized in my mind. By that, I mean that it is not the same today as it used to be. I'm the same person, but I'm not. I've been spending so much time lately downsizing, reorganizing and throwing out. Not sure I'd want letters coming in, no matter how lovely they are. I've trained myself to become so efficient that they'd have to be thrown out immediately after reading. I certainly could not begin collecting again.

Though I've fervently desired to, that's why I've not joined in any art swap groups. There is the need to organize and collect little pieces of art (ATCs, etc.) that would be sent to me in return for me sending them out. While the thought is exciting, I just can't. I still remain devoted to letter writing and the nostalgia of sending and receiving and cherishing the thoughts of others. I think Christmas card exchanges are very nice. I'd love to do one of those.



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I had a pen pal, then we went to email, which was much better and convenient for me. But after some months, she wanted to go back to snail mail. I went along with that, even though I didn't want to. It makes no sense to me, sitting there handwriting a letter for 30 minutes to an hour, when it's so much easier and faster to just send an email.
 

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