A pen & paper.

In the days of blogs, facebook, and email...something has been lost.


Desperately lost.


I thought of it this week as Stuart was completing a school assignment on proper penmanship.  He had to trace out all of his lines evenly and then perfectly space each letter, making sure the height was correct as well. 
 It took him forever.

This due partly to the fact that (let me just fill you in on a little secret here) Stuart's penmanship is...umm...how would one say...

Awful.

Okay, there I said it.  That's as delicate as it's going to get.  These days, penmanship is a lost art.  No one writes letters anymore.  No one cares of your 'y' or your 'm' looks pretty as you write it.  No one sits down with a pen in hand and carefully considers each word that is written.  And that's just sad.  Handwriting used to represent a person.  A personality.  Truly, an art form.  Have you ever seen your Grandmother's writing?  It's pretty - isn't it?  I bet it is.  Grandmothers have a way about them.


The day before Stuart's penmanship assignment, I received a handmade AND handwritten card from my dearest Carlee.  It's the best thing I've ever seen.

See?


I told you so.


It's absolutely wonderful.


And as Carlee and I pondered life over veggie omelets, strong black coffee, and pancakes the size of flying saucers, I began to think how truly special it is to receive a handwritten note. 


I can see Stuart penning a love note now:


My dearest love-bug, sugar-lipped, darling:
     Words are incapable of describing the burning in my heart that I get when I think of your love.  You are like creme brulee.  Or fine wine.  The best of the best.  The hostess with the mostest.  The peanut butter to my jelly.  You had me at hello.
Yours forever. And ever. And ever.
Stuart


Of course, you wouldn't be able to read any of these amazing words if the penmanship weren't neat and orderly.  Thus, a detail that shan't be overlooked.

This is a lot of words to say something really incredibly simple.


I think we should write more things by hand.  On paper.  I think that we should keep practicing our cursive and our penmanship.  I think that we should choose to write on fun stationary paper and personalize it to match our recipient.  I think that we should still seal love letters with a pair of red lips and spray them with a mist of sweet perfume like the girl in Grease.  I think that we should pen poems on aged paper and seal it with wax.  I think we should be able to hold these little snippets of time and emotion in our hands. 

Maybe it's because I'm nostalgic and I have wonderful images of World War II wives getting letters from their husbands overseas - reading the letter over and over again. 

Or maybe it's because I'm a nerd that relishes in the old and forgotten way of life.

But mostly I think it's because I like the idea of having a tangible love note from my sweetheart that I can use as blackmail for when we get into an argument.

Ya, that's it.

My grand scheme is comin' together (Insert evil, maniacal laughter).

The end.