The Power of a Written Letter

~~~~From my own experience!!!~~~~

When I was scanning the news for some inspiration about something to blog about I noticed an article about a prison guard who had been smuggling letters out of jail for some of the inmates. And this reminded me about how much I love to write letters and send them to people via the US Postal Service, instead of email. This has jogged my memory about the letters I’ve written, my older English assignments, and the effects they have on people. And so here I go on the issue of talking with hard copies of words instead of just being another piece in someone’s inbox.

When David Myers, my best friend moved to Colorado my junior year of high school for rehab, I began writing him letters. He was only allowed to have one fifteen-minute phone call home every other week, which usually went to his parents-it was like we were going cold turkey. I used to talk to him for hours everyday and in an entire year I spoke to him for no more than forty-five minutes. I had to figure out someway to talk to him, so I wrote him letters.

At first the letters were more selfishly driven and not originally for him. They began as an online diary, where I mostly reported significant events that happened that week. I imagined that I was venting to him in an effort to make me feel like he was still here, like talking to an imaginary friend. But the more I wrote, the more personalized they were for David, and soon they became long letters. I explained events that related some how to us, whether it was something we used to think with funny that was still occurring here or something that reminded me of him. Once I had written about fifteen letters, one or two every month, he had come back to visit. I put each in its very own envelope, addressed them simply, and placed them all in a nice portfolio. I included in the portfolio an essay I had written about him last year for my English class and another essay from a different class that he had wanted to read. The day he was leaving to go back to Colorado I presented them to him. I never heard from him until it was my turn to receive the fifteen minute phone call, which he explained how thoughtful they were. I gushed about how poorly they were written and usually were just rants about myself, but he insisted that they were one of the best presents he has ever gotten. They were a record of all the instances and reasons I missed him, which reflected how important he was to me.

These were the first letters I had ever given someone, besides simple thank you cards, birthday wishes, or letters to Santa Claus. But then last year in my AP English class we were given the Gift to the World assignment. My crazy, ostentatious, English teacher had gotten the idea off of Oprah, and now insisted that we all participate, threatening us all with a pass/fail grade. The idea is that for a Christmas present you wrote a simple letter to the people who don’t know how much you appreciate them and explain to them why they are a “gift to the world”. Oprah (and therefore my English teacher as well) swore that they would cherish it more than the most expensive gift you could buy them.

I was not at all touched by the assignment. I was angry that we were forced to admit our feelings to someone and that they would be passed around for peer reviews. Plus there was no way I could get out of it. We were supposed to bring our three different letters, addressed and stamped, to class where he collected them to send out in our school mail. Except I did find a way to get out of it, I wrote three crappy letters, that had no real emotions expressed, passed them around the class for peer review, and addressed them all to a different member of my family. I then captured all the letters before my family could read them and find out I had cheated the system.

Then my conscience over ruled my timid feelings. I felt guilty that all my classmates’ significant members would know how special they were during Christmas, so I manned up and sent one to a new friend that always knew how to make me smile in school, like no one else had been able to since David left. I sent another one to my eighth grade Spanish teacher who had become my very good friend, as I grew older. And then lastly I sent one to David.

Mrs. Noviski sent me a text message, late the night she received it, saying she was almost crying while smiling, at the simple one page letter. Jack Ludlum, my friend who made me laugh, reacted similarly leaving me a voicemail saying that it was literally and sincerely the nicest thing anyone had ever given him. He also added that his mom had found it on the kitchen counter and gotten tears as she read it, she never understood what her son was like at school, and that he could affect someone so much-she was so proud of him. And the one I gave to David was a little lighter because he was used to the notes I had given him, but he was honored once again that out of all the people I could have chosen to write my third letter to I chose him.

I had no idea that I would get such emotional and nice reactions to these simple letters, but now I know how much people appreciate you taking time to recognize them. They also love hearing about what they’ve done specifically that makes you happy or specific memories that they wouldn’t have remembered else wise. When you take the time to sit down and record your feelings for someone on a sheet of paper they can always refer back to it. Even though verbally telling someone how much you care for them is incredibly special, the words you used get washed away. Also, letters can’t accidentally get deleted from an inbox on an email or be erased from your text messages. Since letters are now becoming a lost art people appreciate them so much more. So I guess Oprah was right!

I highly recommend at least writing one letter to a significant person in your life. As my English teacher said it can be anyone from a role model to the lady who makes your Starbucks every morning. It doesn’t have to be long and complicated, just simply delivering your feelings reminds people why they do the nice things they do, and allows them to know that someone is noticing. It’s a reward for being an excellent person, which all excellent people deserve. J