The Interactive Hand-Written Letter
Christmas Day my sister stopped everything with the rustle of paper. We all stopped eating waiting to find out what she was up to.
But the rustle wasn’t wrapping. It was an envelope, from my sister Jane’s teenage years. She had been going through my late mothers papers and had unearthed a rarity: a handwritten letter.
So we oohed and aahed. Because anything handwritten these days has novel appeal. Unless it’s printed using a signature font.
And of course there’s less separation between writers and medium, pen meeting the paper. There’s no keyboard, internet, word processing app, screen and yes AI,running interference.
Probably eight pages of loose-leaf paper inhabited the envelope when revealed. The curling cursive writing from that other time fading and occasionally was a challenge to decipher. Unlike my mother’s doctor like hieroglyphics - this was decipherable. And as I was to find out, interactive.
The writer was my Aunty Clare living in Canada. She was writing my mother detailing arrangements for my sister Jane’s stay.
As I read the letter, it’s structure surprised me. It was not like a text thread.
Often texts (poets and essayists excepted) relate facts like I’m on my way, or simple questions like have you got the milk? Texts and emails can be interactive if two people are texting at the same time (beware of cross texting though!) but even so...
And texts and emails so often are so brief that they lack a deeper context. Sure you can scroll back through the thread but it makes for messy reading. But that might be minutes, hours, days etc. And soon the attention span fades away.
And this is why I struggle with texts and short emails. And consequently in my impatience after too much back and forth ask for verbal clarification.
So in truth I wasn’t looking forward to reading this letter. Until I discovered Aunty Clare’s letter was actually interactive.
Same as texts and emails she stated facts, for example about inter city travel in Canada.
She constantly asked questions or requested reciprocal information. Now if that was a text, one would be waiting for a reply. But handwritten letters don’t leave you on read.
And she also chose to share facts and circumstances and stories. But these invited first reading and then replying. All in the context of the letter!
And one couldn’t answer all she wrote in a text message. See snarky comment above.
The only way to reply would be to write with the letter nearby as a reference. Meaning you’d have to check back and forth with the questions and the replies.
Interactive. More interactive than a stale text or email. Perhaps even a better conversation.
