Clearing Old Letters
Opening a can of worms or finding hidden treasures? You be the judge.
When I wrote about my epic attic purge a few months back did I mention that I wasn’t finished yet? Did I mention the three boxes of old letters that sat like squatters in our dining room waiting for the proverbial rainy day?
Well, that rainy day did eventually come… in phases.
With recycling bin and camera in had, I went to it — working in small batches as energy and time allowed. And what an illuminating reveal it was!
Below are some reflections on the process, a few ah-ha moments, and a video I made if you’re curious to get a taste of what my discoveries looked like.
And there is still more to go.
Ahhh 🏡
The way things were…
Reading old letters that I had saved from friends and loved ones brought up both emotions and nostalgic recollections of how things used to be. Rememberings like these:
In the absence of email and texts, people wrote letters back in the day. A LOT of them. Pages and pages of them. All in flowy, sometimes even gorgeous, cursive.
There were letters in there from people I had long forgotten and letters from people that filled me with joy.
Because air mail letters were weighed, we crammed in as many words as we could onto the thinnest paper, making them almost illegible to read.
For travelers like myself, seeing a letter waiting for you at some obscure American Express office made your week. Somehow these Aerograms (as they were called) that folded into themselves always made it in one piece.
The stamps were things of beauty. I have a whole post dedicated to these (coming soon).
Your turn…
Are you a saver of old letters (cards, emails)? When was the last time you went through them, and what discoveries did you make when you did?
Is letter writing gone forever?
Opening a can a worms or finding beauty in plain sight?
You be the judge… [best with sound]
In case you missed these…
A Photo that Tells a Story
Here's a chance to play a bit. What caption or tagline would you give this photo?
It was fun to watch this! I have many letters & cards to sort through, but of course those and my old photos will be the last to be sorted. I miss letter writing and receiving!
Yes, I save letters and cards too. Last year I went through a bunch of the cards, put aside the ones I wanted to read and sent a lot of the cards to a place that recycles them. St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Most of the ones I saved I have not reread yet. A few. Ones from family. I have found several from a friend, long passed that have just made my day. Lovely to have touching of a dear friend from beyond the veil. I send cards. A lot. I know it is old school. But I also know that friends and family appreciate them. My husband says "I give good card". Expensive sometimes but so worth it. And I pick stamps to match the folks or my mood. It is just my way of saying to someone. "I see you". So even though it is old school and not as ecological, I plan on keeping doing it as it brings folks a lot of joy.