Reach Out

This is a world where we can reach out in so many ways and do it often and in an instant. Communication is so important. It's an opportunity to share our fears and our dreams or to just hear a longed for voice on the other end of the phone.

But letters, they are for keeping and shouldn't become a lost art in our automatic age. There is something special about a newsy letter or a cheery card postmarked, with your name. It has a permanency that email doesn't seem to embrace. Remember to take occasions to use it.

Love letters are to be treasured for a lifetime. Scented, signed and sealed with kisses. Letters can be not only a part of our history but national history, of world events. Of times and topics that can later be shared by many.

They tell of times away from home of how the world looked through the writer's eyes. Some legible, some scratchy, but always welcomed. Some contain photos or a dried flower, or a little gift that says "I'm thinking of you".

So many times I receive emails that pass from one source to another and thought it's nice to hear from that person, I just wish it were from that person, and not a thousand others before it was forwarded to me.

It seems we get lazy in this computer age and it's easier to pass on then to be on, up front and personal. Or people just join chat channels anonymously. Safe in their unrecognition.

People spend more time on videos than phone calls. Communication is an art that should be better taught. Are our grandchildren going to know what it means to write? You can't put an electronic care on the mantle.

We know how to download but not to say what we're truly feeling. A big part of communication is to commune. To join with, to unite, to be a part of, to share so much, and hopefully often.

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