There’s a month for just about anything these days.
Take April, for example: It’s National Card and Letter Writing Month. The U.S. Postal Service has actually taken the opportunity to extend the holiday up until Mother’s Day (after all, it benefits them). This year, Mother’s Day is May 9.
In this digital age, it is so rare to receive handwritten correspondence. But a simple letter of care, thanks or sympathy can go far in the eyes of the receiver.
And when it comes to seniors – who likely don’t have computers or email or Facebook and the like – handwritten cards are not only the best method, but the only method of such friendly communication and thoughtful prose.
Author and professional letter writer Samara O’Shea offers the Huffington Post five reasons why a handwritten letter, when it comes to correspondence methods, is like no other:
1. The Test of Time - Provided you don’t tear up your box of love letters in the face of a bad break up, you will have them your whole life. Your grandchildren can find them in the attic someday, and they’ll then meet a young version of you who they never knew. Much of what we know of history comes from letters. Letters are a chance for all of us to leave a legacy.
2. The Sincerity Factor – Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of e-mail and the occasional text message, but they don’t take much time. The people we love are worth our time and effort. A letter is a tangible testament to how much the recipient means to us or how grateful we are for something that person has done (a la thank-you notes).
3. Let the Language Live On – We have access to English–a lovely, complicated language–and we rely on short, clumsy acronyms and emoticons to express ourselves. Which would you prefer?
A text message that says: I Luv U
A letter that says: My dear Girl I love you ever and ever without reserve. The more I have known you the more have I loved. In every way–even my jealousies have been agonies of love, in the hottest fit I ever had I would have died for you. (Excerpt from a letter written by John Keats in March 1820).
4. I Hate Junk Mail – Don’t you? A handwritten envelope found amidst catalogs and credit card bills is the equivalent of a still-cold canteen in the middle of the desert. It’s refreshing and gives you reason to keep going.
5. Letters Save Lives – Amnesty International has effectively used letters to plead on behalf of human rights for over 40 years. The Global Aids Alliance Web site also asks its visitors to write letters to local government officials and heads of states. They offer e-mail as an option but suggest that printed letters send a stronger message. They provide form letters but also implore, “Please write your own letter–your words are more powerful than a form letter!”
Now, how about a letter in return?
At Home Instead Senior Care, our companionship services offer letter writing so that your loved ones can continue to correspond with grandkids, friends and family even if their hands are too frail to hold a pen or steady the paper. It’s just one way we keep seniors living just as they have – even if they can’t do it on their own.
We really mean it when we say “To us, it’s personal.”
Interested in having one of our trusted CAREGivers provide companionship services to your elderly loved one? Simply call our Sonoma County Home Instead office at 707.586.1516 anytime. We’re conveniently and centrally located in Rohnert Park.
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