The post office is in trouble. Who would have thought that staple from our childhood could one day disappear? With the advent of email and instant messaging and text, no one writes letters anymore. Now that cell phones are so common there are no long distance charges involved in calling your loved ones who live far away. I think we are losing something. Writing a letter is an art form, to be able to express yourself in words alone, to draw a picture of your life on paper, through conversation, is something very few of us do anymore.
One of my treasures is a metal box full of letters that my mother and father wrote to each other when Dad was in Vietnam. Today those would be emails, here today, deleted tomorrow. Will anyone again find an old trunk full of saved letters when their parents pass away?
As parents I think we should revive this dying art for our children. I feel like so much of Hailey’s childhood has rushed by, I’m sure being a single parent and being on the go from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed has something to do with that. I want her to know that she was important to me, every minute of every day. I’m going to start now and write a letter to her for every year of her life, and I plan to continue this until I’m gone.
I will find a pretty box to put the letters in, so that when the time comes, my daughter can read the words that were in my heart, about her life. We tell our kids every day that we love them, but do they really know how everything about them made us feel, the times we felt inadequate for the job of being their parent.
The letters my parents wrote to each other gives me a glimpse into their lives when they were young. I want Hailey to have that, I want her to know where we lived and the things I thought about when she was smaller. Give your children a gift that will outlive you, write them a letter.