I have heard that penmanship is no longer taught in schools. Kids will grow up to use computers, so why teach them handwriting when they'll hardly ever use it?
Just teach 'em to print in block letters, and hope they can pick up the knack of legibility.
We're cheating them. We're cheating them of the privilege of sending and receiving love notes (and letters).
Sure, they can email, or text, or if they're really old-school, typing a letter, printing it out, signing their name, and faxing it.
Or even - gasp - finding an envelope, a stamp, and a mailbox.
It isn't the same.
Handwriting conveys so much, and the handwriting of someone with whom we have developed and are developing a relationship becomes part of us. We can recognize the sound of our mate's walk in a crowd; we need only to see part of a written address on an envelope to know we've gotten another letter from our beloved.
We can't do much about the kids today, save teaching them ourselves and getting involved in school-board meetings - and elections.
We can, however, keep the tradition alive ourselves.
So write love notes to your husband or wife. Get a couple of pads of post-its, and every day, or every other day, write something kind and loving and encouraging, and put it where they'll see it.
When my wife took her laptop to work, I'd often place a note on the keyboard while she was showering. Doing that preserved a necessary element of mystery ("HOW did that note get there?").
If you feel that your inspiration for new material will last about a week, don't fret.
There's always the Bible. There are a ton of loving and encouraging Scriptures you can quote. The Song of Solomon is a great place to start, for romance.
The red-letter parts work for encouragement and bracing, when needed.
Don't feel Biblical? Use the internet to find cool quotes. Just google "encouraging quotes" or "romantic quotes" and you'll get a bunch.
What you write is not, in the end, the most important thing. It's that you write. It's that the handwriting which is uniquely you appears on a note that is found in your absence.
It means a part of you is always there.
Why we're here...
Love and marriage are the greatest adventures in life, and they point they way to our relationship with the Almighty.
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Loved this post, Andrew. I still have every note my husband has ever written to me. We still hand write notes to each other, but I confess, life's busy-ness has pulled me away from the purposeful action. I love your suggestions and plan to implement some of them.
ReplyDeleteI love all that handwriting conveys too. Our boys are taught handwriting, but they both tend to write fast to be done with the assignment rather than take pride in a paper neatly written. Sigh.
Thanks for sharing this perspective!
Thanks for stopping by, Jeanne, and please excuse the delay in responding.
DeleteIt can be hard to be purposeful toward one another, because we tend to take each other for granted. Easier by far to be intentional toward a cause or a hobby or a job.
But the soul-rewards can be so great!
I hope your boys one day find that handwriting is a treasure in itself, kind of like stained-glass accents on the window that looks into the soul.
Love that last line, Andrew. I hope they can one day see handwriting as a treasure that gives glimpses into the soul too. :)
DeleteThis is an art form we should not lose. I have kept so many handwritten notes. They are like anchors when I need encouragement.
ReplyDeleteAnchors...yes. Thank you for that!
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