I am SUCH a big believer in the handwritten letter or card delivered by snail mail.  As I tell my grown sons, when I receive something by mail I know that THOUGHT was put into the gesture... I know that their hand touched the card and signed it....I can hold it to my heart.  Greetings by email, text etc. say to me that they realized at the last moment: Oh, s_ _ t!  It's Mom's birthday.... and they hurriedly typed something and pressed send.  

When my children were small, I used to write weekly letters to my mother-in-law telling her about the newest adventures of her grandchildren.  Decades later she surprised me with quite a few of the letters, saying the family always looked forward to my letters.  My children were delighted to read them, reliving some of their funnier escapades.  Now, when I write and receive emails, I save some of them in a folder and will print them later for my own grandchildren.  

One of the ways I "doodle" is to have an old magazine, some markers,a glue stick and some envelopes in a box and I make little instant collages on the envelopes and leave a white space to address them...they are really spontaneous and I don't fuss...then, when one is done it reminds me usually of someone I know so I write that person a letter, put it inside and mail it off.  My friends like getting random collage/letters and I like doing them...One of my friends (a fiber artist) has saved all of them going back about 30 years...I have been doing this about 50 years. I will be 77 in October.

I have an interest in mail art.  I recently sent off a mixed media postcard I made via an exchange with artist, Chris Cozen.  Check it out!  wholeheartedlyimperfect.wordpress.com/.../paris-postcard

I, too, am among the dying breed who treasure the handwritten letter.....to that end, for this year's holiday gift to my woman's craft group (of 33 years!), I created stationery for them out of an oil painting I did and on the gift box I printed:

"Nothing expresses respect for another like a handwritten letter, and no love e-mail, text message or cell phone call will ever be carefully bundled into a memory box and savored for years to come. In a world that thrives on

acceleration, the handwritten letter calls us to a time more deliberate, elegant and gracious". (Tom Barlow author)

When my class graduated, one of the member's mothers gave us thank you letters we had written her when we had a field trip (all the way across the street from the school) for a birthday party.  Our teacher had us write thank you letters to her for hosting the party. It was quite an honor that she had saved them all those years and returned them for a graduation gift for each of us.

I do write letters as well as notes. The last letter I wrote was a private one that went into a scrapbook. It was to a family friend that I grew up knowing. I was making her memorial stone for her husband. She was in the hospital and I was updating her on the progress. I made a copy of it and put it in the scrapbook page I dedicated to her and the man she loved.  I have books of notes I have saved, many  in proper sequence to and from my children. When they were first driving solo, it was part of the deal that they would check in no matter what time it was and let me know they were home safe. Santa notes, treasure maps, I am cleaning my room, but am not happy about it and  I am running away notes.

I file them in books with the title 'Love Notes'

POSTCROSSING!!! I send and receive postcards from all over the world and have used photocopies of some of them as transfers and collages, not to mention the stamps. Go to Postcrossing.com

Comment #2:  Also, when my sons were far away at college I sent them TONS of letters, cards etc.  When they were packing up after graduation, I discovered that both of them had saved EVERY piece of mail I had sent those 4 years!

The art of letter-writing and mailart is alive and well! There are many groups out there who even get together for snail mail socials.

I am hosting one myself on Sept 22 in Rockland,MA at The Crop Shop.

Some other great places to go on-line are: 16sparrows.typepad.com/letterwritersalliance

and

http://goodmailday.com/

Tweets won't last forever!

This might go in the "gag me" folder, but my husband writes me a love note every morning on the back of his business card before he goes to work <3.  I AM looking for a unique medium to do something with them all as they are currently in a treasure chest--they are gems!

I love stationery.  I can remember when I was about twelve I got a box with a wax seal.  I was so excited.  I still use snail mail. I'm glad someone talked about Postcrossing.  I had a French pen pal in high school.  Didn't understand a word but was excited to get letters.  I have stacks of notecards bought at art fairs. I'm going to sign up and use some of these!

Thanks,

Last fall, my son at age 26 finally announced he had found someone for us to meet. It was a new experience for me to know how to begin my part of the relationship, but his girlfriend took charge. Newsy light pen pal notes and letters started coming in the mail. I was absolutely delighted, each time sending one back in a similar framework. This meant as a professional calligrapher, to simplify my usual embellishments, and digging out my old collection of almost yellowed stationary. For months I didn't have her email address or phone number and contented myself enjoying the nostalgia of waiting to hear from her, just as years ago, my love for my boyfriend (now husband of 33 years) slowly gained affection over the time and distance of snail mail. Cheryl   www.writehand.ca

I love handwriting.  I am appalled that children will no longer be taught cursive in school (at least here in Georgia).  Very soon no one but trained experts will be able to decipher antique documents!  Although I blog, I blog details of projects more than my personal life.  I keep a handwritten journal for that.  I love going through the shelves of old Journals and seeing how the times affected my handwriting— happiness, stress, lack of time, no sleep for however long and even half-done in some personal shorthand I can no longer translate!  But all my personal marks.  Long live the (hand) written word!

I write a note to my brother every other week or so. He has had a hard road mental health wise so I try to add a bright spot to his day with a written not of just the ordinary goings on of my family.  I also just sent a note to my sister with a page from Quilting Arts magazine which featured her college roommate, Linda Edkins Wyatt,  who had been chosen for the readers challenge What if...! I love to write notes and send cookies and things through the mail. Meg

Thanks for the shout-out! Happy corresponding!

My cousin died at 33 leaving behind her husband and 2 young sons who never really got to know her. During her last summer, she wrote me several letters that I kept and cherished for 20 years until I was recently able to pass them along to her son. They were so glad to read her words and know her thoughts.

I belong to an organization called Chemo Angels that recruits volunteers to send a friendly cheerful letter and a card to someone going through chemotherapy. I have done this for several years. I write to two women every week and send a card (sometimes a piece of my art work) to them. If you are interested in helping someone through a tough time, and you like to write letters, I encourage you to volunteer to be a Card Angel through Chemo Angels.

I have letters written to me by my grandmother in the 1950s (I'm 68 now).  She lived in Wisconsin & we lived in Pennsylvania, & couldn't travel that often to see each other in those days.  She died when she was 56 and the letters mean so much to me.  It was so exciting to get a letter in the mail from a loved one.  I've saved letters from my aunts, also.  I think we've definitely lost something in today's throw-away e-mail/texting society.  I am also upset that cursive is not being taught in our schools.  What a huge disservice to our children.  I'm appalled at the "writing" of young adults today.  It is large, unreadable, curley-cue printing.  Ugh.

You just never know when the old is new again.  We have the courting letters between my husbands parents prior to their marriage in 1928.  Haven't thought of where to use these prescious memories as yet.  Two years ago when my sister's new daughter in law came to live in Canada, I bundled up a pile of hand written letter my sister had sent me over a 15 years period keeping me up to date on her children as they grew.  She lived in Alberta at the time and I live in Ontario.  These were much appreciated by the new comer to Canada as she learned more about her husband as a child.  Keep on writting and saving.    stitchgeek

I have a large box of letters from family, aunts, grand parents, friends, some of them gone now, that I cherish. I still like to read through them and reminisce. I want to find a way to do something with copies of them, that would be so neat! A pretty way to share them would be so fun! In this day and age of e-mail, snail mail is a lost art, it's still fun to go to the mailbox and find some treasures there from friends and family. There is something about what the person chose to send the message written on and what they had to say. Special! So Special. Thanks for reminding us to all get out our stationary and write a letter to a loved one.  

The first comment by Jane Ann Harper is so true. I am big believer in writing letters and have a few friends with whom I exchange letters. It is hard to find time to write, so much time goes by in between answers. Still, we soldier on. I have some letters from my great grandmother that I have saved, because her handwriting was so beautiful. I wrote childish letters to her and she wrote letters back with all the answers to my questions. I save all the letters I receive. I also make an effort to keep Thank You cards on hand and write them to people who have had us over or done a kindness.

Over 26 years ago, a friend told me to start praying for my then, baby son's wife; that she be raised in a loving, safe home. This I did, pray occasionally. When he announced his engagement to a young woman that was raised in the environment I'd been praying for, I wrote her a four section letter "book." Each letter was written on velum and placed in a handmade/decorated with lace envelope. The fourth envelope contained a pop up card of a young boy and girl holding hands. His fiance said she cried reading about how I'd been praying for her and how perfect she was for him. She said it would become a family treasure. Long live the pen !

I have hand-made greeting card line I started two years ago. One of my best selling slogans is to ask people if they remember the cards they got, and SAVED from their aunts or grandmas. Then I suggest they should buy a card to send to them in return. I also have a manilla mailing envelope and suggest people should send a package of cards to their old college roommate, or the one who stood up with them years ago. Both ideas help to remind people not to be just email buddies, but to give someone something concrete to look at and keep. It must be working, there are now 530 designs....M

I have the letter my grandfather sent to his mother the day my mother was born, telling her of the birth.  I am 58, so this was so long ago, postage was a penny!

I was raised by a  mom who wrote at least one letter every day. I know that it touched so many people's lives. When I retired 3 years ago, I dreamed of opening a web-site where I could share some of the wonderful insights she wrote to me over the years.  Those letters are all carefully bundled into a "memory box."  Mickeysjoy.com became a reality this month. I, too, believe that letter writing  is a marvelous gift...we give to those we love and to ourselves.