Long distance relationships can be, and mostly are, difficult. Finding time, putting in the effort, traveling the distance when you get the chance to see them. Today, to communicate over these distances, we use technology with many people all throughout the day. We can pick up the phone and text or call, or get on the computer and skype online. We get the chance to see them, even if it may be on a screen. We have so many resources at our fingertips to stay in contact.
However, compare this to handwritten letters when that was the main form of communication. The people involved in the relationship would take time and effort to write. They would write their own physical handwriting on a piece of paper, they print your address on and stamp to be sent out. Is that more personal than a text on a screen? Is that more meaningful than a phone call?
You will always hear girls talking about how they wish their boyfriends would send them letters because it’s just, “so cute and meaningful.” Is there truth behind those cliché words? I would argue yes.
First, you impatiently wait and check your mailbox an embarrassing amount of times, anxiously waiting for it to be delivered. Then, once it finally arrives and you see that flash of white in your box, your heart seems to skip a beat and you cannot seem to put in your combination fast enough. Finally, when you have it in your hands you can see that it is them just by the handwriting and the way they print your name. Messily, yet perfect in its own way. You open it, and you carefully unfold the sheet (or sheets) of paper. It's as if you’re holding a small piece of them in your hands, something they had held in their hands before it came to you. You see that –of course- it is addressed to you, yet you still love to see your name on the top of the page. You begin to read, imagining their voice and how they would say certain words, and pause at certain moments. You get all the details and then your eyes see the “with love,” and their name signed at the bottom.
You sit there, read it over a couple times and then cautiously fold it back up into the envelope so as to keep its same form and beauty forever. Putting it in a safe place only you know where to find it, along with the others. Then, you yourself sit down with a pen and paper and reply.
Does a text message do that or a quick skype call? While these may be great resources in a relationship, there is nothing quite as sentimental or personal as something hand written, and personally sent out to you.
