Hand written notes and letters, have virtually become a thing of the past, with the speed and convenience of technology communications today. I admit, I am all about using the computer, especially, for communication. I do love it. The phone, not so much. But there are some folks in my life, who are not going to e-mail with me, anytime soon in their lifetime. Meaning, never!
For example, one of those people, is my beloved Godmother. First of all, I am blessed beyond all reason, to be able to call her my Godmother. Although she has Godchildren that number in the double digits, (which is a testimony to the kind of beautiful, loving person she is), she has always made me feel like her only one. She has always made me feel extremely special to her, and unconditionally loved, forever. She is now in her 70’s. She is not into the computer much at all. And I thank God for it, because her fairly frequent notes and letters are some of my most precious possessions I have. They always fill me in on how she and my Godfather are, what they have been doing, and they ask about varied details of my life at the time as well. But most of all, from the greeting to the closing, they express her sincere and abundant love for me. For our whole family. Her love, and promise of being included in her daily prayers, is not only in her eloquent words, that so adequately express as much. It’s in the very flow of her handwriting. It’s in the sound of her voice that I always hear in my head, as I read her mail. It’s in her little drawn signature heart, that is always beside her name. She not only writes to me, but she and {A} have been pen-pals for some years now. Yes, she’s a faithful writer. Even though she admittedly says her hand shakes as she writes due to age now, and she doesn’t write quite as often, her need to express how much she cares about us, (and others, I imagine) encourages her to keep on.
Oh, she calls on the phone now and then, too. Oh, her voice. I can’t tell you how sweet, this woman’s voice is. Again….you can hear the love for you that she has, in every single word she speaks. So much so, that we have no less than 3 messages on our answering machine, that no one can bear to delete! It would just feel….wrong! A couple are at least 5 years old. So we hear them every time we listen to all of our messages. Maybe someday, we’ll delete them, although I can’t imagine. But her letters, and cards, I will keep forever.
I have letters, cards with written sentiments, and drawings from other loved ones as well. I have several boxes stuffed with precious pieces of postal mail, although it’s not often I need to lift the lid anymore, to stuff another one in, with the few true writers left in the world. Except from my Godmother, of course.
Do you have very meaningful handwritten mail, that you have saved? Could you think of a hand-written letter or note that you have received, right now, that meant so much to you? Do e-mails give you quite the same warm-fuzzies, as the personal mail you find in your street mailbox or post office box?
I have to admit…….we get some pretty meaningful, warm-fuzzy e-mails (as discussed on the HOME PAGE right now. If you haven’t been there today, please read there as well if you have the time this visit.)
But I can tell you, that one of my very most treasured messages, was a little note my mother wrote to me, in a book that she gave me, at a very difficult time in my life. The book itself was full of lovely images and press-printed text of poems and quotes, that I know were all meant for me. But it was her written words in that book, that spoke to my heart the most. They were the words I needed to ‘hear’ so much at that time, that I had not even allowed myself to realize it, until I read them on that page.
I want to encourage you all, to re-embrace once again, writing to those you love. Perhaps not all of the time. But more-so. Maybe a note to let someone know you’ve been thinking of them. Or a dated love letter for your children, to stick in their box of baby things, to find and read when they are older. A quick thank you, to someone who took the time to do something nice for you, even though a quick e-mail would suffice.
And so, I’d like to give away, this beautiful set of cards seen in these photos. They come in a nice and sturdy keepsake box, with a velcro closure. There is 16 cards and envelopes, and a variety of 4 designs.
They all depict beautiful, carefree artwork, and express sweet little reminders of the joys of life. Just writing in one, will bring cheer to your own heart. Never mind how you’ll brighten someone’s day, when they open their mailbox, or find it in a surprise place unexpectedly.
I love how even the inside of these cards, have design. They aren’t just a little something on the front, only to open to a plain white inside. That blank white space that makes you feel pressure. lol
No…..they are all as lovely on the inside, as they are on the outsides.
Even the backs, are pretty!
Of course, I would never send you this beautiful stationary card set, only for you to have the excuse of, “Well, I don’t have a good pen to write with.”
So, a brand new fine Paper Mate pen, will be sent with your gift.
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I’ll even write you a hand-written note, myself, and it send along with your card set and pen. Oh don’t worry, I didn’t write on one of YOUR cards in the set. You can bet when I came across a stationary card set this cute, I got one for myself! After all, if I’m going to talk the talk, I’ll have to walk the walk, too. No pressure to stuff my note in your box of keepsake letters, though. (Although you can-if-you-want-to-ooo.) My only goal, is for YOU, to write notes, that OTHERS want to stuff in their boxes. For you to leave a little hand-written legacy of love behind in your life.
To enter to win, just tell us a little about the most meaningful hand-written note or letter you have ever gotten. The one, or one of the ones (if you are blessed enough to have a collection), that you treasure the most. The details are not necessary, if you are uncomfortable sharing that much. (Although you know we’d all eat that up. ; ). But a brief mention of who it was from, maybe what occasion, if there was one. Whatever you’d like to share.
That’s it! If you can do that, you are entered to win all of the above.
Remember……..the 3 L’s, whatever you do.
But also remember……if you don’t play, you can’t win! Don’t you love free stuff? We do! And we’d love to send these gifts to YOUR door step! WE LOVE DOING STUFF LIKE THIS!! So please join in on the fun!
Entries for this drawing will be accepted until the close of Tuesday, April 20, 2010. A winner will be announced sometime the next day, on Wednesday, April 21st.
GOOD LUCK!
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Every year since the year I moved out of my parents home, my Auntie Bea has sent a handwritten Christmas Card to me. I meant so much to me because it wasn’t the family one she sent to my mom and dad, it was to me. When I married my husband’s name got added in but it was still to me. Children came along and it was a special landmark when that Christmas card came with their name on it. Over the years my Auntie Bea developed Macular Degeneration but she refused to give up hand written Christmas cards. Her hand writing got worse and worse until you really couldn’t read what she wrote but she refused to stop handwriting the cards. Her daughter took over addressing the enveolpes but she made her handwrite them because “labels wouldn’t be the same”. Her eyesite got so bad she would have to start in July and use a special machine to magnify the cards so she could write at all. My aunt died last November. We were all heart broken because it happened so quickly! No time to prepare….no time to make calls or send her a note. She was gone there was a huge empty place. At Christmas time I held out hope that one last card might arrive (since my name starts with B). Her daughters mailed out all the cards that she had written but mine wasn’t there and I was sad all over again. In an effort to honor how special she was to me I hand wrote 6 Christmas Cards to some friends. I hope those cards meant as much to them as Auntie Beas cards had meant to me even before I understood just how special they were.
My all time favorite hand written sentiment was from my husband during my last pregnancy. He wrote on a piece of paper,” You look so beautiful when you are pregnant.” I left it right where he set it on my night stand for the remainder of my pregnancy. I still have it and will always cherish it.
I also had a great aunt who used to write me letters about the nature that surrounded her home.She used to name the animals, Mr. Chipmunk, Mrs. Squirrel and so on. Unfortunately, I was younger whenI recieved them and didn’t save them but they are always in my memory.
I received many handwritten letters from my husband during our dating years that are very special to me. My most recent and very special letter came from my mom. Just after the birth of my 4th child, she wrote me a letter that included her memories of MY birth, with little details I had never heard her share before. Of course, I have that very special letter tucked away with my other treasures.
I have kept every piece of writing my husband and boys have ever given me, but the most amazing collection of letters that I have received was from a retreat at our parish. I attended a retreat and during a part of the weekend we receive a box of letters (a complete surprise) from family, friends, and fellow parishoners. It is so touching to receive these letters of how people really feel about you and some of the letters were from people I have never met but who were praying for me. It was the most humbling experience. I will treasure that box of letters forever.
Note was from my grandmother — she had the gift of writing. God bless my grandmother from her she has passed down her faith.
I can’t resist! I do not come from a family of writers but Mark and I have always written letters to each other, since way back in high school when we met. I believe I still have every.single.one. We wrote “love letters” all through high school and college, even after we got married. At some point the letters turned into less frequent notes that nearly stopped all together, mainly for lack of time.
Last year we started sharing a journal between the two of us that we swap back and forth on special occasions or random days and write each other love letters again, remembering old times, dreaming of our future, relishing in the now, and counting our blessings. What a treasure we hope it will be for our future generations to have of something in our handwriting, telling our story.
My dad. He is a man who may send a card but has been known not to sign it. I know who it is from thanks to the return address. He is a man well loved by his children and well respected by the professionals in his field of business. He is a man of great love but seems to find it difficult to share his thoughts.
On the occasion of his 60th birthday, my brothers and sisters threw him a surprise party. During the party, many friends of his commented on how great his kids are. After the party he sent me a letter, and I am sure the other kids got one too. It was postmarked March 16, 2001. On simple lined notebook paper, he wrote about all of the kind words people said about him and his kids. He wrote how proud he was of us and how he knew that Mom (who had passed away 6 years earlier) would be proud, too.
I keep that letter around where I will find it on occasion; during a frantic deep cleaning of the house, in my search for the tape, a permanent marker, etc. It’s too good to put away where I will not run across it. I love that letter and the man who sent it to me because, while it praises me and my siblings, it reminds me that we are but a reflection of him.
I cannot recall one specific letter either (like Gina above). I do have a heavy envelope full of letters and cards from early in my relationship with my husband. I have gotten less sentimental in keeping the greeting cards… our family has grown and with that, space has shrunken… we keep less stuff now.
I think I’ll use a card from the set to write a long overdue love letter to my husband! It’s been a long long time.
What a special gift.
I don’t have one specific hand-written letter in mind, but I have kept every letter and card I have ever gotten. I’m a sucker for sentimentality and I keep everything from people that connects me to them. I also keep e-mails, but that’s not quite the same. 🙂
My most cherished card I ever received was a card from my Grandma.
Years ago, when my Grandpa was alive, he always gave my sisters and I Valentine cards. After he passed away, the tradition ended.
Last year, my Grandma, who is 88 years old and nearly blind, hand-made a Valentine card for me. It was a heart cut-out with lace trim on it. It was gorgeous. Although it simply said “I love you, Grandma” on it, it was special because of the time it took her to make the card. It was sentimental because it brought back memories of Grandpa, and because she says it took her half a day to make it!
This is by far the most cherished card I have ever received!
When I was away at school in Florida, I received a lot of letters from home, and never threw them away. I have them all tucked away in an old shoe box in my closet. I recall one in particular from my father, in his very neat lefty-script, that I will cherish forever. He wasn’t much on writing, but this letter made me laugh all over. It was read many many times while I was away, and I still pull it out now and then when I’m thinking of him in a quiet moment. Sometimes I run my fingers over the indents the pen made in the paper, remembering how he always pressed hard when writing.
I’m going right now to pull that box out. 🙂 BTW, thanks for the lump in my throat! xo
I have collected lots of letters and “love notes” over the years. The most heart-warming letter was from my mother after my heart and liver surgery. My mother is a wonderful writer. She has always guided me and continues to whether it is on paper or verbally. My children leave me love notes all over the house and I have quite a collection. I have love notes from years ago from my husband (then boyfriend) when we were dating .
On another note we have boxes in the cellar filled with hand-written letters to and from one another (that is my dh) and he has some “lengthy” letters from his sister (I suppose you can only guess who that may be)lol. Once in a blue moon when we are looking for stuff we run across them and read them and laugh as we are all so much different than we were back then.
I save the emails as well and have a folder on specific ones to look back on.
Oh, there have been a few in my life. My dad died when I was 11, and I still have the note he wrote to me on the occasion of my first photographer visit. HE commented on how I was going to be Miss USA 1980. I have letters from my mom, my godmother, my grandparents, even the first letter from my penpal Jill. Treasures, every last one of them.
If I win, YOU are getting the first letter!